As the number of international students increases worldwide, it is crucial to explore what makes international students feel welcomed at university campuses. The study investigates whether higher rates of participation in extracurricular activities and higher frequencies of contact with ethnically diverse students strengthen the sense of belonging to the university. The questions are examined using the data of a German nationwide panel study of international students. The fixed effects regression results (N = 2,998) show that experiencing a change from less frequent to more frequent participation in extracurricular activities offered by the university increases the sense of belonging to the university. The effect turns non-significant when controlling for contact frequencies, academic integration, and psychological adaption. Increasing contact with German and multi-national students is crucial for developing a sense of belonging to the university. However, the contact frequencies and estimated effects vary by region of origin and instructional language. Recommendations for increasing international students’ university belonging are derived from the results.

随着全球国际学生人数的增加，探索是什么让国际学生在大学校园里感到受欢迎是至关重要的。该研究调查了较高的课外活动参与率和与不同种族学生接触的频率是否增强了对大学的归属感。这些问题是使用德国全国范围内国际学生小组研究的数据进行检查的。固定效应回归结果（N = 2,998) 表明，参与大学提供的课外活动从不频繁到频繁的变化增加了对大学的归属感。当控制接触频率、学术整合和心理适应时，效果变得不显着。增加与德国和跨国学生的接触对于培养对大学的归属感至关重要。然而，接触频率和估计效果因来源地区和教学语言而异。从结果中得出了增加国际学生大学归属感的建议。