Objective: To understand the current situation of filial piety belief and meaning in life in college students, and to explore the effect of filial piety belief on meaning in life. Methods: 772 college students in Jiangxi and Hubei completed the Dual Filial Piety Scale (DFPS) and Chinese Meaning In Life Questionnaire (C-MLQ). Results: In college students, reciprocal filial piety accounted for the highest (85.6%). The overall meaning in life of college students was in the middle level, the score of search for meaning in life was significantly higher than presence of meaning in life. The authoritarian filial piety score of male students were significantly higher than female students, the reciprocal filial piety score of female students were significantly higher than male students, there were significant differences in the score of reciprocal filial piety among different grades; The C-MLQ-P score of male students were significantly higher than female students, the C-MLQ-S score of female students were significantly higher than male students, there were significant differences in the score of C-MLQ-P among different grades and mother’s education; Regression analysis showed that reciprocal filial piety could positively predict the search for and presence of meaning in life, and authoritarian filial piety could negatively predict the search for meaning in life. Conclusion: Reciprocal filial piety was the subject of filial piety in contemporary college students. The meaning in life of college students needs to be improved. Reciprocal filial piety is an important way to improve the meaning of life.