Taylor University, a faith-based liberal arts institution in Upland, Indiana, teaches students that community extends beyond the physical campus. They challenge students to live authentically, while also supporting others in their community. In essence, they promote sense of belonging through their campus culture, and their NSSE 2020 results validate this notion. Their data show strong belonging scores overall, and specifically in comparison to peer institutions. Sense of belonging data is particularly important to note considering the COVID-19 pandemic.

In Fall 2020, Taylor’s retention rate was 89%, which indicated to them that students had a strong desire to return to campus, even with all the safety protocols in place due to the pandemic. For Taylor, the high retention rate was also an indication that the on-campus experience is a vital part of the students’ education. Knowing the power of belonging in student success, Taylor University is enthusiastic about using NSSE 2020 sense of belonging data and has already started considering campus partners with whom they can collaborate, such as the marketing and admissions departments and faculty.