With the widespread COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, higher educational institutions in the United States had to close their campuses and switched to online courses. The sudden change dramatically decreased Chinese international students' opportunities to personally meet faculty, staff, and peers and decreased their social connectedness to the institutions. At this critical turning point, research was necessary to form a better understanding of Chinese international students' sense of belonging to their institutions during the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study was to explore Chinese international students' perceptions and experiences regarding sense of belonging before and during the widespread COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. After interviewing 15 Chinese international students from U.S. higher educational institutions, I found Chinese international students had sense of belonging to the university when they were involved in activities, games and events and when they were supported by the university. I also found Chinese international students reported an increase in sense of belonging with the transition from online courses during the COVID-19 to traditional on-site instructions. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]