4 Ways to Rethink When Student Support Starts

Colleges have traditionally concentrated different kinds of support around predictable moments: the transition into college, the first year, when students ask for help or as they near graduation. But recent initiatives and research suggest that starting those interventions earlier or extending them across more of the student journey can improve outcomes.

Whether by awarding college credit for career-readiness learning completed in high school or extending first-generation support into sophomore year, colleges are experimenting with ways to reach students sooner and build support across different stages of their education.

Here are four ways colleges are rethinking when to start student support.

1. Start tracking college progress before enrollment.

Giving students college credit for career-readiness learning they’re already doing can achieve more than give them a head start on a degree. For students who may not see college as an option, Maine’s public universities are betting that having credits in hand could change their whole perspective on whether a degree is within reach.

Starting this fall, the University of Maine System will award academic credit for microcredentials earned by high school students through Jobs for Maine’s Graduates (JMG), a statewide nonprofit that helps students transition into college or meaningful careers.

Through the agreement, students can earn up to eight college credits for JMG microcredentials that demonstrate mastery of such skills as financial and digital literacy, entrepreneurship and leadership development.

The initiative is aimed especially at students who may not already see college as part of their future. JMG serves more than 13,000 students annually, and most enter the program without plans to attend college, according to the organization.

Kimberley Acker Lipp, President and CEO of JMG, said nearly 70 percent of the students the organization serves come from economically disadvantaged households where neither parent attended college.

“They don’t see themselves as college-going, and then underneath that, they don’t understand the different pathways that are available to them to get to college,” Lipp said. “This [JPG] engenders confidence, and it also creates a new understanding and fluency of the postsecondary pathways that are available to them.”

2. Extend support beyond the first year.

First-generation students can face a range of challenges in college, from financial barriers and feelings of isolation to navigating complex university systems without the guidance of family members who have done so before. Colleges often address those barriers through dedicated programs that provide first-year students with cohort-based courses, mentoring and other supports.

But that support can drop off after the first year, even as students begin making consequential decisions about their majors and careers. The University of Michigan believes that adding support during sophomore year can improve outcomes for first-gen students.

The university’s College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (LSA) is launching LSA First Fellows, a cohort-based program designed to connect first-generation sophomores with resources, mentors and opportunities on campus. The program will officially begin in January and is open to all domestic first-generation sophomores in the college.

First Fellows will provide students with a one-credit course, team-based mentoring and community events, as well as $4,000 to pursue an experiential learning opportunity during the summer after their sophomore year. Supported by philanthropy, the funding will be available to every participant regardless of financial need.

LSA Dean Rosario Ceballo said the idea for First Fellows grew out of conversations with first-generation students who described a gap in support after their first year.

“When you get to college in the first year, you’re often in a residence hall, you’ve got peer mentors and advisers, all of the university clubs want you to join, everybody comes to your classes and everybody is excited,” Ceballo said.

“But when I was doing focus groups and talking to a lot of first-gen students, one of the things that they said to me at the time was ‘There’s all this support and attention in the first year,’” she added. “‘Then in sophomore year, you’re like, where did it all go?’”

3. Spot problems before students reach a crisis.

Students often leave clues that they’re struggling before they stop attending classes or exit college altogether. But those warning signs can be scattered across different offices and data systems, making it difficult for college staff to see the full picture or intervene before a student reaches a crisis point.

Some colleges are exploring whether artificial intelligence can help connect those dots and make student support more proactive. Austin Community College, for one, is testing a new initiative designed to identify student needs earlier.

The public two-year institution recently announced the Digital Twin Initiative, a partnership with the Trellis Foundation, a Texas-based nonprofit, aimed at using AI and real-time student data to identify potential barriers before they derail a student’s progress. An $875,000 grant from the foundation will support the initiative.

The college plans to integrate information from across its systems to create a more holistic picture of individual students’ experiences, helping staff identify emerging needs and connect students more quickly with advising, tutoring, financial aid, mental health services and basic-needs resources. This fall, ACC is rolling out an initial version of the platform to roughly 46,000 active credit students, with additional features planned for the spring.

Russell Lowery-Hart, chancellor of Austin Community College, said the goal isn’t to replace direct interactions between students and college staff, but to shift away from a model that largely depends on students to initiate those conversations.

“Nothing is going to replace a direct conversation with a student,” Lowery-Hart said. “But right now, almost all of those conversations rely on the student reaching out, scheduling and identifying, and that’s the shift we’re trying to make.”

4. Begin career preparation before senior year.

Students who understand how their skills, interests and education connect to a range of career pathways may be better positioned to navigate a rapidly changing job market, according to recent research from the DeBruce Foundation.

The report from the nonprofit, which focuses on expanding pathways to economic growth and opportunity, found that people with higher degrees of career literacy—the ability to understand, plan and navigate career pathways—conduct broader job searches, are more open to changing careers over time and experience greater employment security. Those skills, researchers argue, will become increasingly important as artificial intelligence continues to reshape the labor market.

According to the findings, individuals with high career literacy considered about six potential jobs during a job search, compared to roughly two among those with low career literacy. The research also found that people with both strong career literacy and robust professional networks explored 22 percent more career options outside their current path than their peers and earned an average of $40,000 more annually.

Leigh Anne Taylor Knight, executive director and CEO of the DeBruce Foundation, said introducing students to career literacy early in their college experience can help them understand the range of career opportunities available to them and connect their coursework to future careers.

“Exposing them to new industries and different kinds of professions, as well as helping them see the relevance of what they’re doing in their coursework, just turns them on to be able to attain those degrees,” she said. “When you see that there’s a wide opportunity of ways that [you] can use this degree, you’re more likely to be excited about completing that degree.”

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