Higher education students are attending online classes more now than ever in history. Many institutions have temporarily converted their traditional face-to-face to online classroom settings. This raises many challenges as it relates to having to rely on Computer Mediated Communication (CMC). A virtual learning survey was sent out to all First Time in College (FTIC) students at a university in South Texas in Fall 2020, the results of which assessed levels of engagement and communication with recommendations on how to improve virtual classroom experiences. Three types of student engagement were measured based on CMC: student-to-student, student-to-instructor, and student-to-content. This study explored a new frontier for many institutions revealing that FTIC students in higher education feel a greater connection to instructors and content while not with their classmates. This research can be used to help higher education better understand and determine students' needs in an online classroom setting and CMC.