Co-Curricular Programs

History of Co-Curricular Programs in Higher Education

Student participation in co-curricular programs has been part of U.S. higher education since the 18th century, when students began to form student clubs, organizations, and honor societies. Student interest in co-curricular programs expanded widely throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, and colleges and universities responded by hiring staff members and establishing offices and departments to coordinate an array of college co-curricular programs. The roles performed by college and university student affairs or student life professionals include the development and implementation of co-curricular programs designed to engage students in the college or university community and complement classroom learning experiences. By the end of the 20th century, co-curricular programs and activities had come to play a significant role in the college experiences of undergraduate students, and colleges and universities continue to expand their co-curricular program offerings and support for students’ co-curricular experiences.

Student Involvement and Engagement in Higher Education

Co-curricular programs are often discussed as an aspect of student involvement and engagement in higher education. Student involvement refers to the time and energy invested in the college experience and includes time spent on academic work; time spent interacting with peers, faculty, and staff; and time spent in co-curricular programs and activities. Student engagement, similarly, refers to engagement in educationally purposeful activities during college, including time spent on academic work and studying; time spent in co-curricular involvement activities; and time spent in other educationally purposeful activities, such as interacting with faculty or active and collaborative learning. Within these broader conceptions of involvement and engagement, co-curricular programs emphasize learning and experiences that occur outside of the traditional college or university classroom.

Most undergraduate students engage in at least one co-curricular program or activity during college, and many students enrolled in higher education engage in several co-curricular programs throughout their college experience. For example, students may join in a campus student organization, volunteer in community service programs on campus or off campus, and attend leadership workshops during college. Engagement in co-curricular programs often varies based on students’ interests, career goals, and identities. For instance, students may join culturally based fraternities and sororities (e.g., a historically Black fraternity, a Latina sorority) whose members share a particular identity characteristic, or students may attend a campus theater performance based on their interest in the show or its themes. Additionally, students who have considerable time commitments during college, such as working for pay or attending to family responsibilities (e.g., parenting, caring for family members), may be less likely to engage in co-curricular programs and activities than their peers with fewer time commitments.

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