Peace Education in Higher Education: Awareness, Attitudes, and Predictors of Student Engagement

In an era of increasing global unrest and polarization, peace education has become a vital tool for fostering empathy, critical thinking, and civic engagement among young people. This study examines the levels of awareness and attitudes of university students toward peace education, particularly across five dimensions: conceptual understanding, relevance, application, policy awareness, and self-assessment. Anchored in Social Learning Theory, Transformative Learning Theory, the Theory of Planned Behavior, and Human Needs Theory, the research utilized a quantitative descriptive-correlational design. Data were collected from 298 students at West Visayas State University-Himamaylan City Campus in Negros Occidental, Philippines using a validated, researcher-developed questionnaire. Descriptive statistics revealed that students were highly to very highly aware across all dimensions, with the highest mean scores in conceptual understanding and awareness of scope. Attitudes toward peace education were also very positive (M = 4.62), indicating strong student support for its integration into campus life. A significant and strong positive relationship was found between awareness and willingness to engage in peace initiatives (r = 0.81, p