Abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine the academic engagement of 46 college students in Sabah, Malaysia, by administering the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale online. Data that were collected were automatically transferred onto a spreadsheet and subsequently analyzed using SPSS 26.0. Kruskal-Wallis H test revealed no significant differences in these college students’ academic engagement by way of ethnicity and age, while Mann-Whitney U test showed no significant differences in terms of gender. The group mean of the college students’ engagement was 67.1, indicating that they had below-average levels of engagement. Additionally, percentages of strongly agree/agree responses for each item were collapsed to gain an overall impression of their engagement. A low 34.78 to 47.83 percent strongly agreed/agreed that they (1) could continue studying for very long periods at a time, (2) would feel bursting with energy when they were doing their work and (3) felt strong and vigorous when they were studying or going to class. Only 52.17 to 58.69 percent strongly agreed/agreed that they (1) felt like going to class when they got up in the morning, (2) got carried away when they were studying, (3) always persevered in their studies, even when things did not go well, (4) forgot everything else around them when they were studying, (5) felt happy when they were studying intensely and (6) found it difficult to detach themselves from studies. In light of the findings, some recommendations on how to improve college students’ academic engagement were made. Keywords: student engagement, motivation, college students, Malaysia. Title: An empirical study on college students’ academic engagement in Sabah, Malaysia Author: Fung Lan Yong, Melinda Kong, Feona Albert International Journal of Novel Research in Education and Learning ISSN 2394-9686 Vol. 11, Issue 2, March 2024 - April 2024 Page No: 1-10 Novelty Journals Website: www.noveltyjournals.com Published Date: 09-April-2024 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10948834 Paper ...