Abstract
Why do college students volunteer in college? This research investigates who typically volunteers, for how long they volunteer, and why they volunteer in college. Motivations for volunteering in college are complicated by a desire to help the community and to achieve career or other personal goals. Drawing on survey and interview data, I analyzed the motivations of college volunteers through thematic analysis of survey and interview responses. The survey responses show that the majority of volunteers choose to volunteer due to their previous experiences volunteering and their interest in working with a specific population such as children, older adults, and the houseless. The interviews demonstrate that motivation type moderates the level of involvement from volunteers. These findings can be applied to the “leisure constraints model” of volunteering in college, where volunteers choose to volunteer based on their schedules and their need for personal satisfaction - whether they find satisfaction in the act of volunteering or the social benefits of volunteering.