Good advising and support services are instrumental in helping college students—especially Black, Latino, and low-income learners—stay in school and complete a college credential.
One widespread approach to improving advising and supports makes use of advising technologies—such as education planning, early alert, predictive analytic, and case management tools—to better enable advisors and others facilitate more focused and meaningful experiences with students. This approach, complemented by organizational changes designed to increase effectiveness, was a central focus of 26 broad-access two- and four-year colleges across the nation that in 2015 began to adopt or enhance technology-mediated advising practices as part of the Integrated Planning and Advising for Student Success (iPASS) initiative. The goal of the iPASS initiative was to improve students’ advising experiences and, in doing so, improve student retention and completion.
This report from the Community College Research Center analyzes KPI (key performance indicator) data from iPASS institutions and highlights five colleges with comparatively strong outcomes among underserved student groups for further study. The goal is to gain a deeper understanding of how the colleges provide advising and student support both inside and outside of the classroom.