College-bound high school students, whether they’re on their way to a two-year or four-year college, are familiar with what it takes to get into college; however, they know very little about what it takes to flourish once they arrive on campus. No doubt they have received college admission information from high school counselors, peers, family members, private college counselors and tutors, and even social media influencers. Many feel confident that their high school courses and extracurricular activities have adequately prepared them to succeed in college classrooms, labs, and learning environments. 

But as those of us who work on campuses know, there is so much more to a college education than academic success. Unfortunately, what professors and student affairs professionals may take for granted, new students and their families need to know if they are to make the most of their college experience. These include the myriad programs and resources geared toward flourishing, such as the presence of a college counseling center, the role of the learning assistance center, or the best way for students to secure funds to support their study away opportunities. 

The majority of students enrolled in an institution of higher education have one principal goal in mind: finding a career or vocation that will lead to financial success upon completion of a degree or program. Sure, many students factor in a school’s social scene, proximity to the beach, Greek Life options, or Division 1 sports when choosing a school. But these things are often secondary to the availability of a major, the academic reputation of a school, or the teacher-student ratio. 

High school students and families have very little awareness, anecdotal or otherwise, with the concept of flourishing.

For all that went into taking certain courses in high school—hiring an ACT or SAT tutor to secure a better standardized test score or tracking into one preparatory course of study or another to get into the program of one’s dreams—almost no time and effort has been devoted to one’s ability to thrive in and out of the college classroom, nor the professional environment that follows. Put more bluntly, the majority of high school students and their families are missing the forest for the trees: they have spent too much time fixated on the potential financial success that comes from finishing college, while spending almost no time becoming familiar with lifelong flourishing. All of this has led to what I refer to as the Flourishing Familiarity Gap. 

High school students and families have very little awareness, anecdotal or otherwise, with the concept of flourishing. And though authors such as Martin Seligman have made strides—and written popular and accessible books—that elaborate on the idea of positive psychology and happiness as being more complex than a set of feelings or expectations, high school and would-be college students have failed to grasp the importance of flourishing. These college-bound students would be well-served by becoming acquainted with Seligman’s operationalization of flourishing as: positive emotions, engagements, relationships, meaning, and accomplishments (or PERMA). Furthermore, they would benefit from realizing that academic development is but one of three legs of development that higher education is equipped to facilitate, the other two being personal development and social development. But these ideas, theories, and practices are rarely the focus of high school curricula, nor are they covered in much depth by college counselors and advisors. Again, their main focus is on getting students accepted to their preferred colleges and universities. It’s little wonder (though no less concerning) that the literature continues to highlight high levels of stress and depression, low use of college counseling services, feelings of exclusion and not fitting in, and a whole sundry of challenges experienced by college students in their first year of college. 

Unfortunately, there is little colleges and universities can do to directly influence what is and is not being shared by high school educators or private college admissions counselors and testing tutors. But what if two-year and four-year schools could help students and their families maximize the brief yet crucial time between a high school senior’s final exams and move-in day or the first day of classes? What if colleges and universities could address the Flourishing Familiarity Gap by helping incoming students (and their loved ones) increase their awareness of flourishing and alerting them to all of the services available on campus aimed at helping students flourish in college.

By May 1st every year, colleges and universities have a very good idea as to who will make up the incoming class for the start of the upcoming academic year. It is shortly after this date that incoming students and their caregivers start to receive a flurry of emails from the registrar’s office, the office of student financial aid, the dining services office, and the office of residence life and housing (to name a few). These offices support those most basic elements of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs: physiological. But what about Maslow’s other needs: safety, belonging; self-esteem, and self-actualization? 

Colleges and universities—using a flourishing framework such as Seligman’s PERMA model—should turn their attention to succinctly and clearly increasing student’s familiarity with flourishing, while assembling a who’s who of offices, centers, and individuals charged with distinct aspects of facilitating students’ academic, personal, and social development. These schools can help students use the eight to 10 weeks before the start of classes to figure out how to get the most from their new college or university. Schools should start planning now—this fall semester—what sort of communications, prompts, welcome messages, and resources they can strategically share with incoming students next summer before the start of classes. 

The concept of flourishing, similar to terms such as character, virtue, belonging, or wellbeing, are often discussed, interrogated, debated, and elevated on college and university campuses. In that sense, we the academic community either assume (at best) or ignore (at worst) the existence of varying levels of familiarity with these concepts for those who do not work in higher education. If higher education wants students, and their families by extension, to live out the full promise of their academic, personal, and social development, perhaps we would better serve our incoming students by shining a light on flourishing as soon as we can. 

Dr. José Villalba is a professor of counseling at Wake Forest University.