Abstract
When individuals enter the university and are placed in a new environment, research indicates they should seek to develop connections and sustain relationships to be successful. Despite existing literature about student friendship communication and maintenance, there is a need to expand upon the ways students communicate within their friendships, as well as to what degree friendships impact them in college. This study seeks to understand how student friendships are developed and maintained through communication specifically in first-year students entering their first semester at a large western state university utilizing both survey (n = 237) and interview (n = 21) research methods. The analysis unveiled that students have their own way of defining friendships and maintenance by establishing various friendship identifiers and roles. Findings additionally revealed the communication behaviors participants use to maintain their friendships and the impacts of those behaviors. Practical implications examine my research contributions to the communication studies discipline (alignment with workplace friendships, existing relational maintenance measures, and relational dialectics theory), as well as how the university administration, faculty, and students all have a role in creating more successful interactions to develop and maintain meaningful friendships in college settings.