Time and money explain social class differences in students’ social integration at university;Working-class students tend to be less socially integrated at university than middleclass students. The present research investigated two potential reasons for t

Social integration provides a potential remedy for these social class differences. Social integration is beneficial for students’ academic performance, persistence, and retention (for meta-analyses, see Napoli and Wortman 1998; Robbins et al. 2004; for narrative reviews, see McConnell 2000; Pascarella and Terenzini 1991, 2005; Tripp 1997). It leads to better learning, cognitive growth, critical thinking, and personal and moral development (for reviews, see Gellin 2003; Hernandez et al. 1999; McConnell 2000; Moore et al. 1998; Pascarella and Terenzini 1991, 2005). It also leads to greater satisfaction with the university experience (Martin 2012) and changes in students’ attitudes and behaviours that improve their employment prospects (e.g. Moore et al. 1998, 8; Stuber 2009, 880). Given that social integration leads to better academic outcomes, and given that working-class students tend to lack social integration, a potentially important means of improving working-class students’ academic outcomes is to increase their social integration at university (Rubin 2012b). Consistent with this view, Ostrove and Long (2007) found that sense of belonging at college mediated the relation between social class and academic adjustment. However, before we attempt to improve working-class students’ social integration at university, we first need to understand why they tend to lack this integration. It is only after we have a clear understanding about the reasons for this lack of integration that we will be in a position to develop evidence-based interventions that address this issue. The present research investigated two potential reasons for social class differences in social integration at university: time and money