This article adds to a growing body of literature on how various types of social relations can work synergistically to promote students' academic success. Students’ study-related social networks affect academic outcome in higher education. The network literature in education generally explores students’ various relations separately, rather than their multiplex relations or when individuals share several relations. This approach risks missing the full complexity of the student experience. The aim of the present study is to add to the discussion on student social networks and attainment in higher education by further exploring multiplex relations maintained in a specific study program, in which a large share of students in the cohort commute. A survey was distributed to students in one cohort (n = 146). The findings revealed that, in this cohort, students’ friendship, working and learning networks overlap substantially, and that centrality in the friendship and in the student multiplex networks was positively and significantly related to academic outcome, whereas centrality in the working and learning networks was not. Points for future research are suggested, and practical implications for those supporting student learning in higher education are discussed.

The present mixed-methods study provides insight into how students in higher education describe and form multiplex relationships in a cohort of students attending a commuter college, thereby improving our understanding of the complex relationships within student groups and their relation to learning. The main aim was to understand the student experience of networking with other students, particularly how commuter students perceive their academic multiplex relationships. Relational data were collected in a cohort of students (n = 109), complemented by 15 semi-structured interviews. One main finding was that students perceived that their largely homophilous multiplex relationships were central to academic achievement, but if students also had limited friendship relations these multiplex relationships could limit students’ academic experience. Another finding was how orientation week and group work done during the first semester mainly supported the formation of multiplex networks but were also perceived as barriers by some students. Likewise, commuting both scaffolded network building and became a barrier, especially for students with an immigrant background. One important implication for curriculum development is that faculty cannot leave relationship building to the students alone. A strategic model is discussed that supports emerging multiplex relationships, which can lead to gains in learning, retention, and integration.