Community engagement, service learning, and underrepresented college student success: An examination of multiple cohorts

Abstract

Previous literature has demonstrated the positive benefits of Service Learning (SL) participation on college student outcomes. This study explored whether SL participation during the first year of college appeared to be a potentially useful community engagement and pedagogical lever for enhancing college students’ academic achievement, retention, and graduation outcomes. Particular attention focused on college students from groups under-represented in higher education. We used propensity score matching to create comparable treatment (SL participation) and control (non-SL participation) groups. We then examined the role of SL participation in the first-year on college student outcome using four matched samples of college students who were first-years in 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014. Overall, we found that participation in SL during the first college year benefits college students' long-term academic outcomes (cumulative GPA, cumulative credits earned, year-to-year retention, and graduation within 4–6 years), particularly for college students from under-represented backgrounds.