First-year Support

First-year Support offers appropriate supports in first year to ensure postsecondary persistence and success.

Support for Students to Earn Credits Predictive of Completion

• Staff use data to monitor student progress, with particular attention to performance in the first few months of college classes.
• Students experience consistent check-ins (minimum of monthly) with a designated person and are encouraged to connect with networks and support providers on campus, expanding their social capital and their awareness of formal and informal supports and resources.
• Students, particularly those who are struggling, receive intense academic supports to help them succeed in credit-bearing college courses.
• Students are offered performance-based incentives, such as scholarships, to motivate students to accomplish personal and academic benchmarks.
• Staff create individualized plans that include additional customized academic supports for students who are not on track to earn a credential after the first year of college enrollment.

Just-in-time Support to Ensure Persistence

• Emergency funds are set aside for students to cover critical start-up expenses (e.g., books, housing, child care).
• Staff provide early and ongoing supports, anticipating and preventing obstacles and providing additional referrals and follow-up as needed.

Building Attachment to College

• Students are connected to campus resources, especially those targeted for first-generation college goers.
• Key information on college courses and professors is provided by student mentors to help first-year students make more informed choices.
• Staff develop or facilitate on-campus alumni groups that include student mentors and advisors.
• Students engage in small cohort-based learning and leadership communities.