Which College Success Programs Lead to Psychosocial Outcomes for Lower-Income Students?

Abstract: Colleges and universities have many options when offering programs to bolster student success, but the plethora of choices leads to an important question about the characteristics of programs that are most likely to promote desired outcomes. While much research has examined the outcomes associated with student success programs that combine multiple components (e.g., summer bridge programs, learning communities), the results provide limited guidance for program designs. This issue was studied using a multi-institutional, longitudinal dataset of first-year undergraduates from lower-income backgrounds, which was merged with data from students’ high schools, precollege zip codes, and detailed information offered at 36 different college success programs. Overall, the programs most consistently and favorably associated with psychosocial outcomes provided substantial financial aid, started before the first semester of college, lasted for two years, and did not involve a tutoring component. Many other types of programs are rarely or never associated with psychosocial outcomes. These findings offer direct insights for administrators and practitioners who seek to maximize the usefulness of their student success programming.