This article will guide you how to create a College Undergraduate Student survey about Sense Of Belonging. With Specific, you can build surveys about sense of belonging in seconds, no expertise needed.
Steps to create a survey for College Undergraduate Students about sense of belonging
If you want to save time, just generate a survey with Specific and have it done in seconds. Here’s exactly how it works:
Tell what survey you want.
Done.
You don’t even need to read further—AI handles the heavy lifting. It creates expert surveys instantly and even asks respondents smart follow-up questions for quality insights. Or, if you want more control, create any semantic survey from scratch with just a prompt—no manual question building needed.
Why sense of belonging surveys matter for college undergraduates
A sense of belonging isn’t just a feel-good metric. For college undergrads, it’s central to academic success and retention. If you’re not running these feedback surveys, you’re missing out on:
Understanding what drives student engagement—and what causes students to feel disconnected.
Spotting early signs of students who might be at risk of quitting or underperforming.
Addressing student concerns before they become widespread issues.
Research shows that a strong sense of belonging is a major driver for student retention and graduation. As Strayhorn’s study highlights, students who feel connected to their institution are more likely to persist and achieve academic success [1].
And with today’s campus diversity, missing this feedback means you’re likely leaving critical blind spots. If you care about the benefits of college undergraduate student feedback, regular surveys on sense of belonging are essential for informed program improvements—not just box-ticking.
Conversational, AI-driven surveys further open doors to deeper insight, increasing engagement and the honesty of responses [2].
What makes a good sense of belonging survey for college undergraduates?
The best surveys strike a balance: they’re clear, unbiased, and inviting. Respondents want questions that feel natural and respect their perspective. A good college undergraduate survey about sense of belonging avoids leading language, jargon, and ambiguity.
Surveys should be:
Conversational—so students are comfortable sharing honestly
Unbiased—so the data reflects reality, not your assumptions
Structured clearly—so respondents never get confused or fatigued
When we measure the quality of a survey, we look at both response quantity and quality. High response rates mean wide reach, but only if replies are rich and actionable does the feedback become truly valuable.
Bad practices | Good practices |
|---|---|
Leading questions ("You feel supported here, right?") | Open or neutral wording ("How supported do you feel on campus?") |
Long, complex sentences | Short, clear phrasing |
Formal or robotic tone | Conversational, warm approach |
Examples of question types for college undergraduate student sense of belonging surveys
Not all questions are created equal. Mixing formats is the best way to unlock actionable insight.
Open-ended questions shine when you’re after nuance—asking students to explain, elaborate, or tell a brief story. These uncover “why” behind the sentiment and are invaluable for understanding context. Try these:
When do you feel most like you belong on campus?
Can you share a time when you felt disconnected or excluded?
These are perfect early in your survey, or as follow-ups to closed questions.
Single-select multiple-choice questions are great for easy analysis, especially when you want to quantify sentiment or experiences. For example:
How connected do you feel to other students on campus?
Very connected
Somewhat connected
Neutral
Mostly disconnected
Completely disconnected
The advantage here is benchmarking—seeing shifts over time or comparing between groups.
NPS (Net Promoter Score) question formats provide a standard measurement for advocacy or satisfaction. For example, try a dedicated NPS survey for college undergraduates:
On a scale from 0-10, how likely are you to recommend this college to a friend because of the sense of belonging you experience here?
Followup questions to uncover "the why": These are vital after both open and closed questions. If a student says they don’t feel connected, don’t just stop there—ask for specifics. For example:
What makes you feel disconnected?
Can you describe a situation that led to that feeling?
Want more sample questions and advice? Check out our guide to the best questions for college undergraduates—packed with tips and real-world tested ideas.
What is a conversational survey, and why AI generation is game-changing
A conversational survey feels like a dynamic chat—not a static form. Think real, back-and-forth exchange. Instead of dumping all questions at once, the AI asks, listens, and then adapts—probing further when necessary.
Comparing traditional survey forms to an AI survey example makes the difference clear. Building a survey manually means writing, re-writing, and guessing at what works. But using an AI survey generator means you:
Go from idea to expert survey in under a minute
Automatically adapt tone, content, and probing for your audience
Make the response experience feel friendly instead of interrogative
Manual surveys | AI-generated surveys |
|---|---|
Slow to compose, often stilted | Fast, natural, and context-aware |
No automated follow-ups | Dynamic probing, richer data |
Difficult to customize on the fly | Instant edits via chat with AI |
Why use AI for college undergraduate surveys? The advantage is obvious: AI-driven survey tools pinpoint exactly what matters, adapt questions based on responses, and save you from drafting clunky forms. With conversational surveys, students engage at higher rates, and you get data that’s actually useful for action. Specific offers best-in-class UX for these conversational feedback surveys—smooth for you, and for every respondent.
If you’re keen to dive deeper into practical steps, don’t miss our article on how to analyze survey responses with AI.
The power of follow-up questions
Lots of surveys produce half-baked answers because they don’t probe deeper. The magic of conversational surveys—and the engine at the heart of Specific—is smart, automated follow-ups. Instead of getting stuck on vague answers, the system asks a clarifying “why?” or “tell me more” on the fly. Read more about how these automatic follow-up questions unlock better insights.
Student: I sometimes feel left out.
AI follow-up: Could you share an example of when you felt left out and what might have helped you feel included?
How many followups to ask? We find 2–3 follow-ups are enough to surface root causes, without creating survey fatigue. With Specific, you set a limit or let the AI skip to the next question once the detail you need is captured.
This makes it a conversational survey—not just another static feedback form. As a result, response rates improve and answers are richer.
AI survey response analysis is a breeze—even with lots of text, AI tools easily extract patterns. Here’s how to analyze responses with AI for clear, actionable summaries.
These smart, dynamic followups are a new concept—you owe it to your research to try building a survey and see the difference for yourself.
See this sense of belonging survey example now
Ready to engage your college undergraduates and get insights that drive real improvements? Create your own survey today with AI-powered, conversational questions and see just how easy—and effective—modern student feedback can be.