Yale University is "need-blind" in its admissions; students are assessed solely on the basis of academic and personal promise, with Yale meeting 100 percent of the demonstrated financial need of every admitted student for all four years of study.

Yale expects a zero contribution from families with total incomes less than $60,000. The university has reduced the amount that lower- and middle-income families pay to equal or below the cost of many major state universities. Yale has raised the campus minimum wage and eliminated loans as part of the aid package.

Bottom Line:  Student loan debt has dropped below $11,000 - far below the national average for four-year private institutions.

The 4MILE@Bryant program at Bryant University is a transition/mentoring program for first-year minority students from the U.S., as well as international students. First-year minority and international students are invited to attend a one-week transition program that begins the week before fall classes start. Students are acclimated to the campus and exposed to the various resources available to them to help in their success.

With the guidance of the Intercultural Center professional staff, 4MILE counselors (current students) help them through the weeklong program and their first year at the university. The counselors work to ensure that students' cultural, academic, personal, and social needs are being met (tutoring, financial aid, counseling, homesickness, etc.). The program also includes an orientation for parents.

Funding comes from the institution and private sources.

Bottom Line:  In 2007, 90 percent of participants were retained in their first year.

The A.C.T.I.V.E. Retention Program at Villanova University ((Advising, Counseling, Tutoring, Information to enhance the Villanova Experience) aids the transition of first- and second-year students into the Villanova community. While the program is open to all students, the university actively seeks students who identify with a "cultural" population or NOS (not otherwise stated).

A pre-orientation program, while open to all first-year and transfer undergraduate students, specifically targets those students who are: a) first-generation college students; b) socially defined as minorities who are most likely to become targets of oppression, prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination; c) members of racial/ethnic groups that have been historically underrepresented and underserved in America's educational system; and d) high financial need.

Services include but are not limited to: a) free lending library; b) free tutors; c) academic and financial advising; d) social/professional/personal counseling; e) social outings; f) professional development opportunities; g) open, and safe discussions; h) programs that address transition difficulties; i) life coach; j) service break trips; k) a mentor.

Funding comes from the institution.

The university's "First Alert" program-an early warning system to identify and assist students who might be at risk academically-will be expanded to include intense intervention for second semester freshmen who earn poor grades in their first semester, including mandatory retaking of failed courses or courses with low grades, mandatory study halls, and help through peer mentors.

The university also intends to make a "Success at Saint Leo" course available to all transfer students at the University Campus.

Funds come from the institution.

Bottom Line:  The university hopes that these new initiatives will lead to at least a 75 percent retention rate, and a rise in graduation rates to at least 50 percent from historic levels around 40 percent.

Worcester Polytechnic Institute offers academic and personal counseling, student skill workshops, first-year seminars, remedial programs, undergraduate research, cultural programs, and mentoring opportunities to all students. Much of the academic work at the institution is done in teams, the faculty spend large amounts of time with students, and advising and mentoring activities are numerous.

The services are supported by institutional funding, In addition, WPI offers several special scholarship programs. 

Bottom Line:  WPI's freshman to sophomore retention rate is now up to 95 percent.

The Academic Bridge Program, a new initiative at Southern Methodist University, will target multiple groups within our first-year student population including first-generation, minority students, and those whose academic profile and personal backgrounds may impact their university experience, their retention, and their graduation from SMU.  Students are identified and invited to participate in this program.

Focusing on student success, the program has three philosophical pillars: (1) failure is not an option; (2) mediocrity is not acceptable; and (3) put forth the effort to earn a minimum 3.00 GPA each term. The program will incorporate mentoring, targeted tutoring, targeted advising, collaborative learning opportunities and individual counseling as its key components.

One of the unique approaches the Bridge Program will take toward achieving student success will be the implementation of an early warning academic system. Under the EWAS, Bridge staff will communicate with faculty every three weeks, electronically requesting feedback on Bridge participants in their respective classes. This targeted process will provide staff with the opportunity for early intervention with identified students.

This is a new initiative for the 2010-11 academic year at SMU; thus, we do not have benchmark or comparison measurements. Still, the program has adopted the following goals and measurements: (1) a 100% retention rate for program participants; (2) an 85% rate of students earning a minimum 3.00 GPA; and (3) a less than 5% rate of students on academic probation.

Academic Camps for Excellence at Calvin College targets gifted and talented 5th-12th graders. This program fosters involvement between college students and pre-college students, and provides opportunities to explore the sciences, mathematics, computer technology, literature and writing, economics and business. Academic Camps for Excellence is funded through tuition.

The Academic Clark Excellence (ACE) Summer Institute assists ALANA (African, Latino, Asian and Native American) students and first generation students who have been admitted to the university. Beginning in the summer, the ACE program maps a clearer path to college persistence and graduation, helping students become acclimated to the campus and become part of a community that includes peers, mentors, faculty, and staff.

Participants complete intensive courses in pre-calculus or calculus, writing, and psychology; learn how to work in a science lab; meet professors; and have discussion sessions on opportunities within various majors. During the school year, students prepare individual written academic plans, which are reviewed annually. Clark University students find support in study groups for class projects and in workshops that provide strategies for success in courses that often see high failure rates.

Participants also develop leadership skills, and learn about opportunities for internships, research projects, and graduate school. Peer mentors as well as a staffed resource room provide extra support. Monthly workshops address such topics as budgeting, financial aid, and resume building. Parents receive communications on student success and invitations to special events.

Bottom Line:  University data show exceptionally high persistence rates of ACE students relative to ACE-eligible students who didn't participate.

The Academic Excellence Workshops (AEW) at Syracuse University are an optional active-learning program offered to students taking Pre-Calculus, Calculus I, II, III, and several fundamental engineering courses. First-year students and those on academic probation in the L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science are strongly encouraged to participate in this program.

Academic Excellence Workshops provide a unique approach to calculus instruction by supplementing classroom teaching through a highly interactive, small group session. Trained undergraduate facilitators, who excelled in the course previously, work with six to eight students two hours per week. The undergraduate facilitators provide mentoring to their participants and provide them with additional opportunities to reinforce course material through weekly office hours. The overall goal of AEW is to encourage subject mastery and not merely content memorization. 

Program funding comes from institutional and private/individual sources. 

Bottom Line: Of the fall 2009 LC Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science first-year female students who successfully completed Calculus I and were concurrently enrolled in AEW during the fall semester, 70.6% passed Calculus II in the spring with a grade at least equivalent to or higher than that received in Calculus I. For the remaining female cohort that did not participate in the program, only 29.4% achieved similar results. The findings for the male cohort: 62.8% of AEW program participants achieved at least the same level of success between their initial calculus courses, compared to only 37.2% of the non-program participants.

The Academic Immersion Program at Fairfield University helps students from underrepresented populations transition to college. Selected participants represent diverse racial backgrounds, first-generation college attendees, and students from low-income families. The program engages faculty, deans, student affairs staff, and student mentors.

The program has two components: a four-week English and philosophy summer course and one-on-one meetings with staff and workshops during their first two years of college, where students continue to develop their knowledge and skills base.

Bottom Line:  Of the 33 students who participated in the 2008 Academic Immersion Summer Program, 32 completed the academic year, with an average cumulative GPA of 2.77. Sixteen students finished with a GPA of 3.0 or higher.

The Academic Mentoring program at Dallas Christian College consists of group study sessions, individual study sessions, and developmental tutoring. All freshmen students who are on academic probation are required to participate. All students are assigned an academic mentor while on probationary status. The three year-old program has wide support from professors, staff and alumni.

The Academic Planning and Support Services (APSS) program staff at St. Edward's University offers comprehensive services to help students succeed.

APSS helps entering traditional students transition to college life through the university's First-Year Experience. Sixteen first-year seminars are co-taught by academic counselors and a faculty member. Academic counselors teach a class on effective college learning, required for students who are on academic probation.

The APSS offers the Academic Exploration Program for students who are undecided about a major and a career. Students attend a majors fair, presentations by speakers, informational workshops, and an alumni panel linked to AEP first-year seminars. The APSS also provides students with a full-time academic counselor, who meets with students to discuss their academic profile.

Support for the APSS comes from the institution and private donations.

Bottom Line:  Since 2003, the freshmen-to-sophomore retention rate has ranged from 82 percent to 85 percent.

Among many services provided by the Academic Resource Center at Tusculum College, the center seeks to help students who have entered the institution on a "conditional admit" status; those who have been referred or self-refer as being academically at-risk; students with disabilities who need accommodations; and those on academic probation.

Students receive tutoring, academic counseling, academic advising, training in skills for academic success, and career development services.

Funding comes through tuition.

Bottom Line:  Freshmen to sophomore persistence rates have improved by 3 percent since 2006.

Open to all students, the Academic Resource Center provides professional and peer tutoring to DeSales University students.

A professional writing coordinator provides individual assistance to students in all areas of written expression. A learning/study-skills coordinator works individually with students who seek guidance in such areas as reading comprehension, time-management, and study skills. A coordinator of reading and disability services works individually with students with and without disabilities who seek guidance in such areas as reading comprehension, time-management, study-skills, and assistive technology.

Peer tutoring takes place both individually and in small groups.

Funding comes from the university, and federal work study and institutional employment funds.

The Academic Resource Center at Webster University offers students academic support via such services as qualified writing coaches and a peer tutoring program. A testing center offers support for assessing student progress. Students with physical and learning disabilities can arrange for academic accommodations.

Individual academic counseling sessions offer students help in developing organizational and learning strategies. A student success committee helps faculty identify and assist students who may be at risk academically. Funding comes from the institution.

Bottom Line:  Although these programs have been in place only a relatively short time, the institution has already seen a slight increase in retention.

The ARM (Academic Role Models) program at The College of St. Scholastica is designed to increase learning opportunities and progress for students who live in the college's on-campus residence halls and apartments.

Peers who are junior and senior level, and have outstanding academic success are hired, trained and placed on wings of the housing units. These ARM students provide programs, one-on-one tutoring, incentives, and study tables for their peer students. The program is designed to engage students in group and active learning in their living environment.

The college plans to track the students who participate with the ARM students by their GPA and on-time progress to graduation. The program began two years ago.

The Academic Standards and Probation Program at the University of Denver provides the means for faculty and administrators to identify and help students who may be at risk academically. Students who are on Academic Warning, Academic Probation, or Precipitous Decline are invited to meet with an academic advisor. On average, 50-65 percent of students on probation meet with an advisor. Funding for the program comes from the university.

The Academic Success program at Simpson University allows students to participate in First-Year Experience seminars, small-group discussions, study skill workshops, chapel programs, and cross-cultural programs. Academic and personal counseling is available through the university's academic success center, wellness center, and writing and math lab.

Additionally, students may participate in small-group discussions, study skill workshops, chapel programs, and receive academic counseling via various channels.

Funding comes from the university.

Bottom Line:  The university's freshman to sophomore retention rate increased from 68 percent to 72 percent, while overall retention went from 80 to 84 percent.

The Academic Success Center at Missouri Baptist University provides services and resources to enhance student learning in and outside the classroom. The center offers tutoring services, career planning and counseling, and special needs services.

Each student who is admitted to university under academic probation is interviewed by center staff and completes a self assessment of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The director of the center follows up via subsequent meetings to assess student progress. The director checks mid-term grades so that an appropriate intervention can be made before the semester ends. Professors are given teaching load credit to tutor in the mathematics and writing labs.

Funding comes from the institution.

The program is in its inaugural year. The university plans to monitor data and assess the center's effectiveness.

The Academic Success Center at Voorhees College provides an array of services to help students succeed.

The center offers drop-in tutoring, peer tutoring, diagnostic testing, small group study sessions, and an early-warning system to help students identified by faculty as being in need. The center also conducts a series of academic and personal enrichment workshops to help students successfully adapt to college life.

Funding comes from the institution and federal support.

Bottom Line:  The center hosted 1,741 visits for the 2008-2009 academic year, and 3,064 visits from November 2008 to August 2009. Peer tutoring saw parallel increases, from 53 students who received tutorial assistance in 2008-09 to 96 who participated in Fall 2009.

The Academic Success Center (ASC) at Heidelberg University helps at-risk students reach their academic potential by providing individual and group tutoring, individual consultations, ongoing support and referral services for students seeking to improve learning skills, workshops on learning strategies and career development, and online study-skills information. In addition to taking certain required courses, students in the program meet regularly throughout the semester with the ASC director.

Any Heidelburg student can take advantage of the center's academic support and enrichment services. 

The center also provides faculty and staff development. ASC also oversees the STARTS (Staying on Track and Reaching Toward Success) program, which is designed to help students who need additional academic support during their first year at the university.

Funding for the ASC is provided by the university.

Bottom Line:  There has been a significant bump in retention of "at-risk" students - in the range of 5-10 percent - since the university developed the center.

The Academic Success Learning Labs at Saint Leo University provide academic support for students who are on academic probation. The labs are taught by faculty members, with a faculty-to-student ratio of 1:8 to10. The faculty member in a given section "mentors the mentors," who in turn mentor the student participants.

Funds come from the institution.  The program is new and has yet to be assessed or evaluated.

Saint Leo University plans to assign academic advisors to freshmen before they arrive on campus, and incorporate an advising session into the August orientation program. The university also intends to make a "Success at Saint Leo" course available to all transfer students at the University Campus.

Bottom Line:  St. Leo hopes that these new initiatives will increase the university's retention rate to at least 75 percent retention rate, and the graduation rate to at least 50 percent.

Throughout the year, the program offers intensive academic monitoring and counseling. In addition to working with the freshmen advisers, students have access to academic counseling where individual concerns impacting academic progress are addressed.

ASP also offers practical educational success workshops (e.g., preparing for finals, developing decision making skills, how to choose a major and career), multiple opportunities for tutoring, and inspiring service learning projects geared to develop students' full potential.

The Academic Support Program at the College of Notre Dame of Maryland helps identify and support students who are at-risk academically. The program is mandatory for students who do not meet the college's academic standards. To help improve their academic performance, students receive academic support services including academic and personal counseling, academic mentoring, tutoring services, academic skill workshops, and related programs.

Bottom Line:  Eighty-eight percent of the Fall 2007 and 80 percent of the Fall 2008 probationary students returned for the following semester.

Brown University offers an array of Academic Support Services that serve various undergraduate populations. Services range from a Curricular Advising Program, to walk-in advising with the dean, to free tutoring and group study.

Trevecca Nazarene University provides numerous academic support services, including faculty and peer tutoring for all students, and freshman seminar classes specifically designed for adult students. The university is launching a new initiative in Fall 2010 to increase first to second year retention. Components include a freshman course, peer and faculty mentoring, tutoring, learning communities, increased scholarships, service learning projects, and team building activities.

Academic Support Services at Madonna University provides special advising and retention activities to ensure students toward graduation. Open to all students, these activities include tutoring, mentoring, advising, supplemental instruction, cultural activities, assistance with writing, and related activities.

Collected data gives evidence that these activities increase student success.

The Degree Start and Degree Completion programs at Albright College are accelerated degree programs for working adults and provide a convenient route to earning or completing a degree. Degree Start allows students to earn the general studies portion of their bachelor's degree in as little as two years, while working full time. After two years, students can transfer to Albright's Accelerated Degree Completion Program (DCP) or a traditional Albright daytime degree program.

The college's Bridge Program helps working adults (23 years of age or older) earn the general studies credits needed for acceptance into the Degree Completion Program. It also assists currently enrolled DCP students who need additional credits to complete their degree requirements. DCP allows adult students to complete the last two years of their bachelor's degree in approximately two years while working full time. Some 600 students are currently enrolled in nine locations. All students are eligible for financial aid.

Bottom Line:  The average GPA of an accelerated degree student is nearly 3.2. The retention rate in 2008-09 was 87 percent. Enrollment has grown 34 percent over the last year.

Accelerated Professional Programs at Barton College provide expanded options for adult students, including online and evening courses, and a weekend program. These alternatives are designed for people 22 years of age or older who work or have other commitments that prevent them from attending academic courses offered at traditional times during the week. Participating students come from diverse backgrounds.

Designed to promote academic excellence for middle and high school students, the University of Puget Sound's Access Programs are conducted in partnership with the Tacoma Public Schools. The programs include several interrelated components ranging from mentoring to summer math and science classes to informational interviews with local professionals.

Avila University helps students succeed academically and stay on track to graduation through first-year seminars; trained study skills tutors; undergraduate research opportunities; and interdisciplinary studies courses for juniors and seniors that blend two disciplines, often include a study abroad component and a service component. In addition, Avila, in partnership with the local Rotary, offers a full scholarship to two incoming first-generation, low-income students who plan to pursue nursing careers.

Staff members at Pikeville College attribute ACE Program successes to planned program services that include tutoring, mentoring, and intensive academic monitoring and counseling to ensure that students stay on track with their grades. All first-time freshman participants received peer mentoring services with at least 8 contacts during the first semester, as well as planned mentor Meet and Greet sessions and meetings in the ACE office. An intensive mentoring program was established for all new freshmen regardless of background at the end of fall 09. There is a system in place that allows assessment of students' needs quickly.

Bottom Line: The program provided support and services to 160 low-income, first-generation, and/or disabled undergraduates of whom 81% achieved a 2.00 or higher GPA during 2009-2010. 74% of ACE participants returned Fall 2010 or graduated during 2009-2010.

The ACHIEVE/CAP program at Thomas More College monitors all traditional students for academic success, with focus on first-time freshman.

Services for students include counseling, academic advising, professional and peer tutoring (particularly in English and mathematics), career counseling, a first-year seminar, a health/wellness center, engagement in clubs, cultural activities and athletics, undergraduate research, and experiential/service learning.

The institution's intervention strategies have a tailored approach. Students might be identified as being at-risk academically, socially, or financially.

Funding comes from the institution.

Bottom Line:  Since the implementation of the student success team, the college's first-time-student retention percentage has risen from the mid-50's/low 60's to the high 60's/low 70's.

The Achieving a College Education (ACE) program at Keuka College  serves low-income and first-generation students, students with disabilities, and any other incoming freshman who is recommended by his/her admissions counselor, academic advisor, and/or parent.

The program pairs participating students with upperclass members who serve as consultants/coaches. The coach is available for individual instruction in time management, study skills, and other academic issues that might impede student success. In addition, student progress is monitored by staff in the college's office of academic success, who share their findings with faculty through reports.

Funding comes from the institution. Since 2005, 181 students have been invited to participate in the ACE program, with a total of 79 students electing to participate.

Bottom Line:  The first semester GPAs of the participants averaged 2.51, while the first semester GPAs of the non-participations averaged 1.82. Of the 2005 participants, 61 percent are still enrolled at the college or graduated.  In comparison, 40 percent of eligible non-participants are still enrolled.

Wilkes University administers a state educational opportunity program (Act 101) for conditionally accepted students who meet financial and academic guidelines. In addition to the university orientation, students participate in workshops on task management, note-taking and study strategies. These students join the Act 101 Learning Community, live in the same residence hall, and enroll in two courses to support their transition to college-level studies.

The classes focus on self-esteem, goal setting, motivation and decision-making, developing an educational plan, and career decision-making. Program advisors serve as instructors to insure that they develop significant, productive relationships with their students. Intensive advising is integrated into the program to provide for a highly individualized experience.

The Act 101 program is a Pennsylvania state program that works in conjunction with institutions to help students achieve personal, social, and academic goals. First-year students in King's College program, which was established in 1975, receive one-on-one personal counseling that provides tools to build self-esteem, confidence, and social integration.

Students in the Act 101 program are matched with peer mentors for the first semester and engage in a variety of academic and personal support activities. Participants must be Pennsylvania residents whose family incomes and expected contribution to college fall under federal thresholds.

Participants include minorities, low-income students, first-generation students, returning adults, students from rural areas, and students with disabilities. Funding comes from the institution and state funds.

Bottom Line:  The fall-to-spring retention rate of Act 101 freshman for the 2008-09 year was 96.6 percent, compared to the institutional rate of 91.1 percent.

The Act 101 program is a Pennsylvania state program that works with institutions to help students achieve personal, social, and academic goals. The program at DeSales University offers a wide range of student support services, including career counseling, resume development, and search for summer employment.

It also provides professional tutoring in reading and studying; assistance with research, writing papers, and English course work; help in filing financial aid forms; and advocacy with the university's treasurer's office and financial aid office. Peer tutoring for course content in subject areas; academic advising; workshops in topics relevant to student adjustment; diagnostic testing in reading, writing, and study skills; and goal-setting in personal, social, academic, and career areas are also available.

In addition to a pre-college orientation, students in the program receive support from faculty and the university's student affairs staff, including seminars and advising. More than 67 percent of those in the program are first-generation college students, and 79 percent are from low-income families.

Funding comes from the institution, government grants, and private donations.

Bottom Line: Retention from first to second year averages 90 percent or above.

The Act Six Leadership & Scholarship Initiative program at Whitworth University recruits and trains urban students with low-income, first-generation, and minority backgrounds.

In addition to a pre-college orientation, students in the program receive support from faculty and the university's student affairs staff, including seminars and advising. More than 67 percent of those in the program are first-generation college students, and 79 percent are from low-income families.

Funding comes from the institution, government grants, and private donations.

Bottom Line:  Retention from first to second year averages 90 percent or above.

The Adrian College Educational Success program provides first-generation students with faculty mentors who were themselves first-generation college students. The program also offers workshops on such topics as time management, managing impulsivity, and understanding financial aid. The first-to-second-year retention rate for the first group of ACES students was 85 percent, which is significantly higher than the 2008-2009 overall first-to-second-year retention rate of 74 percent. Support comes from the CIC/Walmart College Success Awards program.

Central Methodist University offers advising and academic support for all students, including extra efforts to assist with financial resources, advising and a Center for Learning and Teaching. In addition, a retention coordinator advises and supports at-risk students prior to and after enrollment.

McKendree University offers AiM: Accelerated Instruction at McKendree, an accelerated program that offers a bachelor's degree in business to students in five rural counties. Courses are taken near the student's home or work in rural areas of southern Illinois.

Trinity University has scholarships specifically designed for first-generation college students, and an on-campus support program called Allies--First-Generation, Under-represented Students (FGUS). FGUS includes a summer bridge first-year seminar that begins (and ends) earlier than the regular semester; an early move-in option; a program for students and their families; peer mentoring; and ongoing academic and social programming during the academic year.

Upper-class students, staff, faculty and administrators, who themselves were FGUS, served as campus "allies," mentoring the incoming students. Sixteen percent of the university's student body are FGUS, and that number has grown in the past three years.

In addition, Trinity University has an Upward Bound and McNair Program, as well as an NSF STEM program for under-represented students in the sciences.  Funding comes from the institution and the federal government.

Bottom Line:  Although FGUS students arrive on campus with an SAT deficit, they do as well as other students in terms of GPA, retention rates from first to second year, and overall graduation rates.

STEM Commitments [White House Summit on College Opportunity, Dec. 2014]

GOAL: Alma College intends to increase the number of declared science majors by 33 percent over five years, providing at least an additional 350 STEM students.

ACTION PLAN: Alma College is making a commitment to enroll and graduate more low-income and underrepresented STEM students. Building on a relationship established with Detroit’s Michigan Future Schools as a result of January’s White House College Opportunity Summit, Alma is focusing its efforts on Detroit and Michigan’s Gratiot County.

The College recently received a grant from the Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow Foundation for the purpose of improving STEM 82 education in Michigan. Alma intends to strengthen student interest in STEM fields by enhancing opportunities at the College and K-12 schools to engage in STEM research. For example, Alma College will sponsor summer cooperative research experiences for K-12 teachers, including side-by-side research with Alma faculty as well as time to design K-12-level projects that will be field tested in summer camps for K-12 students on campus at Alma. Each summer, the college plans to involve 25 elementary, 75 middle and high school students, 15 K-12 teachers, and 10 college students in these opportunities.

Increasing the number of students who enroll in STEM college programs will only be significant if these students persist to graduation. Alma is actively pursuing mechanisms to expand the Positive Routes into Science and Mathematics (PRISM) program. This e-PRSIM (“extending” PRISM) program will increase the number and quality of STEM graduates by incorporating inquiry-based learning in the classroom beginning in first-year courses, providing opportunities for early undergraduate research, offering research mentor activities, and an articulation agreement to facilitate easy transfer from a local community college. Science graduates had been on the decline at Alma College prior to establishing the PRISM program and already, declared science majors have increased by nearly 50 percent since 2008. With the extension of the PRISM program Alma College hopes to increase the number of declared science majors from 33 percent in the next five years. 

The Alternative Admissions Program (AAP) at Holy Family University recruits, accepts, and enrolls students that do not meet its normal criteria for admission. These students are generally from an underserved population (first-generation, low-income, under prepared academically, etc.). The average incoming admissions scores (SAT and HSGPA) for these students are significantly lower than the university's regularly admitted students.

Students take a course over the summer to prepare them for college-level work. The university is piloting a specific sequence of two courses for AAP students to take during the summer prior to the start of the fall semester.

AAP students are also enrolled in selected First-Year Experience classes that offer more intense exposure to college success oriented topics such as note-taking, study skills, time management, and available university support services. In addition, the university offers all first-time, full-time students numerous support services, including the FEXP 100 (freshman experience) course taught by the students' first-year mentors, tutoring, and remedial courses in writing and mathematics.

Bottom Line:  The university hopes to increase its current 75 percent retention rate by one percent per year over the next five years.

In its initial stages of development in 2009-2010, the program began with 25 students paired with mentors in Spring 2010.

Completion Commitments [White House Summit on College Opportunity, Dec. 2014]

GOAL:  Bay Path University commits to producing 399 additional graduates by 2020 and a total of 2,662 additional graduates by 2025.

ACTION PLAN:  Building on previous efforts to deliver innovative onsite and online baccalaureate degree programs for adult women, Bay Path University will further work to expand accelerated baccalaureate programs designed to give low-income and underrepresented adult women the confidence and opportunity to pursue an affordable college education, even if they are employed full-time, juggle responsibilities as a single parent, struggle financially, or were unsuccessful at prior attempts to earn their degree.

The American Women's College at Bay Path University was launched during the 2013-2014 academic year. This unique college is developing and deploying a revolutionary approach for delivering online accelerated baccalaureate degree programs tailored solely to adult women that incorporates an innovative adaptive learning platform known as Social Online Universal Learning (SOUL). SOUL creates a customized learning environment that leverages learning analytics, educator coaches, virtual learning communities and other wraparound support to shorten time to degree completion, increase affordability and improve degree attainment.  Bay Path University is announcing a new institutional commitment of $84.8 million through FY2020 to scale up capacity to serve adult women online through the American Women’s College.

Given the significant investment commitments made by the University to develop new career-focused baccalaureate degree programs delivered through the SOUL platform and to develop greater capacity to serve large numbers of adult students online, the University fully anticipates significant scale-up in enrollment and acceleration in the number of graduates produced each year as SOUL is fully developed and deployed. This will lead to calculated cost savings as enrollment builds and economies of scale are achieved.

The University is also exploring exciting opportunities for collaboration with community colleges to employ the SOUL model to streamline the transfer of adult students from associate’s to online baccalaureate degree programs. The University anticipates working with community colleges to enable their adult students, men and women alike, to test-drive the experience of online learning by making the SOUL model’s online Bridge Course available for free to adult students who would benefit from online learning. A mentor would be available at the community college, onsite where feasible, to support cohorts of students taking the course and to facilitate transfer to online baccalaureate degree programs, including The American Women’s College. This mentor is in addition to the online educator-coaches who provide comprehensive support in the SOUL online environment. 

Students at Saint Thomas Aquinas College who demonstrate the potential and motivation for success in college but who do not yet meet regular admissions standards may be admitted to the college as participants in the Aquinas Success Program, which is also open to all students at the college.

Students in the program are offered additional academic support to reach their college graduation goals. The program's services include academic counseling, personal counseling, college skills workshops, an extended freshmen orientation class taken by all freshmen, remedial classes in writing and mathematics, a writing lab staffed by an English professor, and a supplemental instruction program in traditionally difficult mathematics and science courses. In addition, students may seek assistance in the college's tutoring center.

Aspirando Alto at Calvin College targets students in grades 9-10 and especially Hispanic/Latino students. The program offers students three days of college explorations as they live in the dorms, attend classes with college students, and explore the necessary steps for college entry and future career directions. Involving college students in programming with the pre-college students is a unique aspect of this program. Aspirando Alto is funded through institutional, private/individual sources.

Hampden-Sydney College seeks to improve the grades of academically at-risk freshmen and sophomores, decrease the number of students who are found to be academically deficient at mid-semester, and boost their retention in college.

Services include tutoring, special workshops for students who are on academic probation or doing unsatisfactory work in two or more courses, and counseling through the college's Office of Academic Success. The financial aid program at Hampden-Sydney provides resources to assist students from low-income families.

STEM Commitments [White House Summit on College Opportunity, Dec. 2014]

GOAL:  Bard College (Annandale-on-Hudson, NY) Goals Bard High School Early Colleges will implement a new computing-based science and math curriculum in all four schools by 2017, reaching approximately 2,500 students, to increase the proportion of minority and female students intending to major in STEM fields by at least 10 percent within the next three years.

ACTION PLAN: Bard High School Early Colleges (BHSECs) are public schools that provide students with a two-year, tuitionfree college course of study following the 9th and 10th grades. BHSEC students earn up to 60 transferable college credits and an Associate in Arts (A.A.) degree concurrently with their high school diploma. The students at the BHSEC campuses are highly diverse and campuses have demonstrated success in educating STEM graduates with 35 percent of BHSEC alumni receiving a bachelor’s degree in a STEM field over the last five years, more than twice the national average.

Bard College will transform these pioneering schools by developing and implementing an integrated, interdisciplinary curriculum in technology, programming, and computer science in order to increase the participation and improve the performance of underrepresented groups in computer science. The curriculum will also emphasize computing skills as foundations for multiple STEM disciplines beyond computer science. The curriculum changes are intended to increase the proportion of minority students and female students who intend to major in STEM fields by at least 10 percentage points each within three years. If demonstrated to produce better educational outcomes, this new interdisciplinary approach to teaching computing can be widely adopted by other high schools and early colleges to increase student participation and improve performance in computing and other STEM subjects.

The program will engage all students in computation, starting with entering 9th graders, and embed computational thinking throughout the math and science curriculum for high school and early college. In 2015- 2016, faculty at BHSEC Queens will develop and implement an interdisciplinary curriculum that unifies multiple STEM disciplines through computing and applies a common set of computing skills in math and science courses. In 2016-2017, the program will be replicated at the remaining three BHSEC campuses with training support provided by faculty involved in the implementation at BHSEC Queens. By 2017, all four campuses – enrolling approximately 2,500 students – will be offering the new curriculum. 

[White House Summit on College Opportunity, Jan. 2014]

Barnard College seeks to reach 25 percent more students – increasing from 80 to 100 – through its “Barnard Bound” program, which offers low-income high school seniors a chance to visit the Barnard campus and get a sense of college life before the application process begins.  

Barnard also commits to extending campus visit opportunities for students and their families to help ensure it reaches a large number of New York State young women who are eligible for the Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP).  Furthermore, Barnard will expand its outreach to low-income families from New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania. It will admit up to three additional students per year to the “Barnard Opportunity Program,” which offers non-New York State students the HEOP experiences of a summer “bridge” session before freshman year as well as ongoing tutoring and advising support.

Barnard will increase its marketing outreach within local area community colleges to inform students about Barnard and its programs, as well as expand its outreach to 5-10 additional community colleges across the country. Additionally, in 2014 and beyond, Barnard seeks to increase by 10 percent the number of students receiving support for Barnard’s summer “Pre-College Program” in partnership with community-based organizations.  Barnard will also identify 10 new high schools over the course of the next 2-3 years with low-income populations to establish stronger relationships, speaking about the college admission process in general, and offering workshops on financial aid to students and their parents/primary care givers.

Building on Existing Efforts: Barnard offers both on and off campus enrichment programs and activities and offers a comprehensive science and mathematics enrichment and college preparatory program to approximately 85 middle and high school students each year.  Through the HEOP and Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Programs, Barnard works with low-income undergraduates interested in STEM fields by providing a variety of support services throughout the year and a summer bridge program before college begins.  These two programs serve 120 students each year and have a proven track record with graduation rates that surpass the national average. Barnard also has a long history of partnering with community-based organizations to attract low-income students.

STEM Commitments [White House Summit on College Opportunity, Dec. 2014]

GOAL:  Belhaven University commits to redesigning the general core science curriculum for non-science majors to emphasize the scientific basis of our society and economy, in order to inspire 10 percent of these students to pursue STEM degrees.

ACTION PLAN:  Due to the challenges in preparing first-generation university students, Belhaven University must become innovative in order to attract new students to STEM majors. Universities often require all students to take an entry-level science lab course that is part of the science majors' sequence; yet instead of creating interesting, new avenues of study for all students, this requirement may act to cement non-science majors in their assumptions that they are not interested in or capable of becoming scientists. To overcome this misconception, Belhaven is changing the general core curriculum for teaching science to non-science majors; the goal is to excite students about science by relating it directly to their personal interests in the environment and practical problems related to sustainable future. This approach should not only educate all students in scientific literacy, but inspire 10 percent of these entering non-science students to pursue STEM degrees.

Two new core courses, "Science & Culture I: Physical and Computational Sciences for a Sustainable Future" and "Science & Culture II: Biological Sciences for a Sustainable Future" will be the pillars of Belhaven's new pedagogical approach to teaching science via a modern problem-based interdisciplinary methodology. These courses build critical problem solving skills in students by focusing their attention on data collection, graphical analysis, and critical interpretation of results through the application of computer integrated technology. The associated lab components will introduce students to scientific databases, consumer products, environmental quality, biodiversity and conservation, public health, and personal hygiene and nutrition. These courses will present the history of scientific advancement, the philosophical foundations of science and the scientific method, as well providing an open forum to present, discuss, and analyze past and present societal problems and opportunities that are scientific in nature.

K-16 Partnership Commitment [White House Summit on College Opportunity, Dec. 2014]

GOAL:  Berea College Partnership is committed to the result that “all Knox County Students Succeed at School” and will implement a collective impact strategy aimed at county-wide goals and unlocking opportunities to help students and families overcome the high rates of poverty (240% above the U.S. average) in the Knox County area.

Goals include:

• Increasing percentage of FAFSA completions by 20%, from 70% to 90%;
• Increasing the percentage of students enrolling in postsecondary education from 57% to 60%;
• Increasing the percentage of students who will not remediation upon entering college, from 35.5% to 45%;
• Increasing the percentage of students completing bachelor’s degrees within six years of high school graduation from 37.7% to 55%; and
• Increasing the percentage of students completing associate’s degrees within three years of high school graduation from 4.9% to 12%.

ACTION PLAN:  Berea College will partner with Knox County schools and the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) to launch an early warning system that tracks individual student data–socio-economic status, school data, achievement data, CCR and ACT targets and benchmarks. The backbone of this system will be Kentucky’s data system and the KDE Progress To Graduation (PTG) report.

The Partnership will also use the ACT College and Career Readiness Targets to measure targets for students in grades 8 – 12. Schools currently assess students using ACT measures and determine baseline and annual targets for each student. Individual student data will be provided to staffs in real time via the Kentucky Department of Education student data system and used to direct student specific interventions. 

The Black Male College Explorers Program at Florida Memorial University focuses on recruiting, retaining, and graduating first-generation black men. The CIC/Walmart College Success Awards program has allowed the university to enhance counseling and financial incentives to those who consistently make satisfactory academic progress.

Madonna University seeks to boost persistence rates for minority students, part-time transfer students, and male first-year students - groups that have lower retention or graduation rates at Madonna when compared to similar statistics at peer institutions.

The university plans targeted academic support services, including an early warning system, tutoring, supplemental instruction, basic skills workshops, and improved physical space for services. Enhanced advising services, including additional professional advising staff and professional development for academic advisors, are also included, as are greater opportunities for grant awards to support faculty-student collaborative research.

An improved data system will support institutional decision-making and student services overall. The initiative, which started in Fall 2009, is ongoing through Winter 2014.

Bottom Line:  The goal of the new initiative is a 10 percent increase in persistence rates.

Beginning in Fall 2010, Boston College plans greater student outreach to Boston high schools through admissions; more inclusion of transfer students and community college graduates in support programs currently geared for first-year students; and closer data gathering and analysis of Boston public school graduates, from application to admission to enrollment to completion.

BC also will analyze this group's persistence in specialized professional fields like the science/premedical program, business, education and mathematics. Making the experience of this specific group more visible will help define what is needed to further strengthen advising and support programs on campus.

This is part of the Boston success initiative that involves a network of a number of Boston area colleges and universities.

Bottom Line:  BC wants to increase the group's persistence rate from 84 percent to 93 percent.

[White House Summit on College Opportunity, Jan. 2014]

Northeastern University will offer 150 full-tuition need-based scholarships to Boston Public Schools (BPS) graduates in 2014, including 30 new scholarships covering 100 percent of demonstrated need for low- income BPS students who live in neighborhoods surrounding its main campus.  Working with BPS guidance counselors, Northeastern will also host multiple College Readiness events on campus for BPS students and their families, aimed at helping them prepare and apply for college and financial aid.

Northeastern will initiate a comprehensive, 360-degree financial literacy program focused on ensuring that all students obtain the skills and knowledge to make informed and effective financial decisions – not just regarding how to pay for college, but throughout their lives. The focus of Northeastern’s program will be to teach students how to manage their education financing such that they can pursue and successfully manage the major financial and life commitments they will encounter after graduation.  A key emphasis will be to help students lower their education debt by limiting and eliminating convenience borrowing.  Counseling will include issues such as managing personal credit, loan repayment (including Pay as You Earn), and auto and home purchases.

Building on Existing Efforts: Northeastern’s comprehensive strategy to increase college access, affordability, and success among low-income and first-generation college students consists of 

1. an unprecedented institutional commitment to student aid, backed by a student aid guarantee called the “Northeastern Promise”; 
2. a nuanced and multifaceted approach to identifying and supporting low-income and first-generation students, including “undermatched” students, talented and college-ready students who underperform on some traditional admissions metrics (i.e., the SAT), and high- potential students who can achieve college readiness quickly with intensive and focused supports; and 
3. targeted and sustained investments in student support, including freshman retention efforts, early warning systems, and counseling.  

In addition, Pell grant recipients at Northeastern have 94 percent of their tuition costs covered by grants—79 percent of which is funded by the university.  Northeastern expects to meet full need for all students receiving need-based aid by 2015-2016.

The Bridge Program at the University of Saint Francis targets students who do not meet the university's initial entrance requirements. The program offers academic counseling, mathematics and English tutoring, writing skills training and time-management skills. Successful students are placed in several common classes in the fall semester so that they can continue to help each other address problem areas.

The program has grown from three participating students in 2006 to 25 in each of the last three years.  Funding for the program comes from the institution.

Bottom Line:  Retention has increased from 75 percent to 82 percent for the Fall 2009 cohort.

Ripon College offers a bridge program to help first-generation students prepare for college.

The college also offers first-generation students career shadowing internship opportunities. Need-based financial assistance is provided in the form of book vouchers, travel vouchers for students who travel to college from distant states, and meal vouchers for students electing to remain on campus during vacations. During the academic year, first-generation students work with peer mentors and tutors.

Bottom Line:  The first- to second-year retention rate for students who completed the 2008 bridge program was 92 percent, compared with the average first- to second-year retention rate of 83 percent over the past 19 years.

The Summer Bridge to Success Program at Rosemont College helps students make the transition to college. Participants include first-generation students, students from low-income backgrounds, and minorities. The program offers counseling, staff mentoring, workshops, remedial programs, tutoring, and cultural programs. Participants are also linked with student mentors.

The program was first offered in the summer of 2009.

Funding for the program comes from the college and from private donors. Additional funding would help the college expand the program from its current limit of 25-30 students.

While specific comparative data are not yet available, the pilot year of the program had very positive results.

The BASE (Broadening Access to Science Education) Camp Program at Fairfield University targets inner city high school girls enrolled at one of the Bridgeport's high schools. The program increases awareness of interest in the sciences, and encourages hands-on learning in a college setting in the field(s) of science.

Students come to campus for one week, reside in a dorm, and engage in hands-on, research-based experiences in the natural sciences and mathematics. Faculty lead projects with assistance from undergraduate students. Students have the opportunity to interact with undergraduates and participate in fun activities while experiencing dorm life.

STEM Commitments [White House Summit on College Opportunity, Dec. 2014]

GOAL: Bryn Mawr College is committing to increase by 5 percent the number of undergraduates with poor mathematics preparation completing STEM degrees through implementation of a specialized mathematics preparation. This short-term goal is in line with the long-term trajectory to have students with poor math preparation completing STEM degrees on par with students who enter with strong math preparation.

ACTION PLAN:  Bryn Mawr College will address a primary reason students drop out of STEM fields: difficulty with the required mathematics. Bryn Mawr is developing a new strategy for mathematics remediation by providing students who enter gateway STEM courses with weak mathematics preparation the skill- and confidence-building to thrive in those courses, thereby increasing the likelihood they graduate with STEM degrees.

The College will achieve this improvement in remediation by using blended (hybrid) learning to provide students with personalized, selfpaced instruction; adopting a “scaffolding” approach so that students receive this supplemental instruction while they are taking STEM gateway courses; and differentially aligning the skills and concepts covered to the content of multiple gateway courses, so that each student studies material explicitly relevant to her.  This blended mathematics fundamentals program will have multiple components: (1) online, interactive modules designed to help students master fundamental concepts, (2) “playlists” that link these modules to the curricula of the targeted courses, and (3) faculty coaches who are trained to use learning data generated through the online modules to deliver effective, individualized coaching and support to students.

Bryn Mawr will prepare these modules in the 2014-2015 academic year and pilot them in 2015-2016; the learning data and survey feedback from students and instructors will be used to evaluate the modules, playlists, and overall blended approach and make adjustments for the following year.

This work also will be shared with Bryn Mawr’s 12 institutional partners through a First in the World grant, which collectively impacts 2,900 students. Over the four-year pilot, approximately 125 students will participate and the goal is to significantly increase (from 17.1 percent to 21.4 percent) the percentage of the target students completing a STEM degree, ultimately striving to match the 37 percent of students who entered Bryn Mawr with strong math preparation completing STEM degrees. 

Bucknell University has partnered with five community colleges in Pennsylvania and Maryland to establish the Bucknell Community College Scholars Program, a program for low-income community college students. Students who have successfully earned 12 credits from one of the partner schools can attend a residential summer program at Bucknell. After the program, students return to their home school to complete their associate's degrees. Within a year they are eligible to apply as a transfer student to Bucknell.

Once the students enroll full time at the university, full-tuition scholarships are guaranteed. Throughout the process, a Bucknell faculty member mentors and advises each student in the program. The program is supported by the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, as well as through tuition, institutional and private funds, and federal and state/local government funds.

Bottom Line:  To date, 55 students have participated in the program, with a 100 percent retention and graduation rate.

[White House Summit on College Opportunity, Jan. 2014]

Nebraska Wesleyan pledges to partner with local schools and community college campuses to provide a 2-2-2 program, including the last two years of high school, two years in an associate degree program, two years in a bachelor’s degree program that guides low-income students into fully-credentialed teaching careers back in the schools.  The partner institutions hope to establish a pipeline of students from diverse backgrounds to the teaching profession. The 2-2-2 program will offer early identification of and their preparation for college-level study; a pathway to degree completion that balances rigor, strong support, and affordability; and a clear pathway to a career upon graduation.

Building on Existing Efforts: Nebraska Wesleyan University has ongoing partnerships with neighboring elementary and middle schools and maintains strong links with African-American-serving and Hispanic-serving community centers through a Guidance to Success Youth Club, a Good Neighbor Center, and the Hispanic Youth Leadership Academy, a summer initiative in Nebraska of the United Methodist Church.

Building Roads to Intellectual Diversity and Great Education (B.R.I.D.G.E.) is an intensive, four-week residential academic enrichment and leadership program that brings together first-generation college-bound, low-income and/or African-American and/or Latino students from the Chicagoland area who are interested in preparing for admission to college.

The two-year summer program prepares high school students for college through a curriculum that fosters their intellectual, leadership and spiritual growth. The entire program is free of charge for all participants, and completing it guarantees a scholarship to Wheaton College.

Wheaton also offers a variety of multicultural scholarship programs.

The Symposium at Calvin College combines theological depth and practical application for students, professors, pastors, musicians, artists, worship leaders, and worshippers.

[White House Summit on College Opportunity, Jan. 2014]

Alma College will develop campus communities for low-income students, admitting an additional five to ten students from the Detroit Edison Public School Academy for the 2014 – 2015 school year. Once enrolled at Alma College, these students will meet for a week before the term starts to participate in workshops designed to address issues frequently encountered by low-income students. Throughout the year, this “community” will meet twice a week for study groups and once for a social event. During school breaks and spring term, the students will return to their high schools to work with students on college and service activities.

Building on Existing Efforts: Alma’s Opportunities and Connections program is a King-Chavez-Parks (KCP) initiative designed to provide support for Alma College students with a specific focus on those who are low-income. The KCP initiative is a state-wide program designed to increase access to and graduation from college amongst low-income students.  Alma College is the first and only small liberal arts program that is part of KCP.  This year, roughly one-fourth of the incoming class meets requirements for the KCP program and is eligible for need-based Pell grants.

St. Edward's University has submitted a federal Title V grant that if funded would support a Career Exploration Internship Program (CEIP) for academically-exploring freshman students the summer between their freshman and sophomore years.

CEIP would provide students with a paid, career-focused experiential opportunity that allows them to solidify their major and plans for pursuing a chosen career; shadow a career professional while gaining a better understanding and appreciation of a variety of professions in their field of study; and garner the support needed to succeed in college while preparing for life after graduation.

The launch date would be October 1, 2010, if the Title V grant is funded.

Bottom Line:  Success of the initiative would be assessed by measuring the six-year graduation rate for the 2010 freshman cohort and the sub-cohort of freshman who completed this initiative. The goal is to achieve a 70 percent graduation rate.

The Center for Academic Accessibility Resources (CAAR) at California Lutheran University is open to all students, with a particular focus on low-income, first generation, minority, and/or students on academic probation. The center offers counseling, mentoring, workshops, remedial programs, tutoring, and cultural programs. Specific programs target first-generation transfer students.

Funding comes from the institution, the federal government, and private grants.

This electronic messaging system allows faculty and administrators at the University of Evansville to send alerts on students of concern to the Center's staff. These alerts are monitored daily, issues are quickly addressed, and students are provided opportunities to access appropriate resources to ensure their success in pursuit of college degrees. Beginning fall 2010, this system is being enhanced by logistically combining the Center for Academic Advising and Tutoring with the Writing Center. Ultimately, the institution can measure and report the number of students who are having academic difficulty, the percentage who receive intervention, and the ultimate academic success of these identified students.

Franklin Pierce University offers a plethora of services, such as personal counseling, health services, academic counseling, professional tutoring, academic accommodations, student success workshops, skill-building workshops, social media support networks, first year intensives, developmental/skills course work, ALANA and international student support networks, interfaith outreach and ministry, residential education programming, peer leadership programs, community service and civic engagement programming, outdoor recreation activities and athletics.

The new Center for Continuing Education (CCE) program at Guilford College will use a multi-faceted approach to address the challenges faced by adult students who are the first in their families to attend college. It will include one-on-one counseling for students to learn about college services, special mentoring, academic courses to address learning gaps and other programming.

Additionally, the program will gather information about the needs of adult first-generation students in order to develop a set of best practices for college administrators facing similar challenges.

Support is provided by the CIC/Walmart College Success Awards program.

The grant also allowed the University of Bridgeport to purchase an on-line program that allows all faculty and staff to report when they see a student in trouble (i.e. missing classes, depressed, unusual behavior in class) to a key administrator to assist in meeting the student's need. Grant funding came from the federal government.

The Center for Leadership, Calling, & Service (CLCS) at Trevecca Nazarene University offers the LEAP program, a four-year sequence of events, classes, seminars, and counseling.  Each year's programming is designed according to the developmental stages of the student during their college years. 

The coordinator of each year's program has developed a mentoring/teaching/support system for freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior year students. The sequence is designed to support them with the issues that they deal with at each level of the university experience.

 In addition, the center provides an academic support center, counseling center, remedial education programs, and peer mentoring program for all students. The center operates a complete freshman year experience programs which include orientation, freshman seminar, and peer mentoring program. Funding comes from the institution.

Bottom Line:  Three years into the program, the university has seen a decrease in the number of drop-outs between the first year and second year.

The Center for Multicultural Affairs (CMA) at Villanova University addresses the needs often faced by students traditionally underrepresented at the institution. These include students from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, students with great financial need (Pell eligible students) and students who are the first in family to attend college. The CMA takes the role of networking available resources and service providers within the university to address the needs of this special population. Where needs are unmet, CMA creates programs, works with learning support providers, and raises funds to help students achieve their dream of a college education.

The Center for Student Academic Support at the University of Tulsa provides resources and services to enhance student success and increase retention. The center is an initial reference point for students looking for academic support, serving students' academic needs and promoting effective interaction between students and university faculty and staff. Tutorials, study skill workshops, team study activities, and counseling are available. Funding is provided by the university.

The Center for Student Development and Success approaches the student college experience from a holistic perspective. With a warm and inviting environment, the Center is centrally located in the Converse student center. It combines academic, professional, and personal resources in one location in an effort to better serve the student and increase the usage of our success initiative programs.

The purpose of the Center is to advance Converse students toward success in academic, personal and professional areas. The staff strives to create networks for personal learning and growth. The Center works to meet the needs of all Converse students, wherever they are in their academic and personal development. Some of the services provided include academic advising, tutoring, first-year programs, supplemental instruction, career development, and the Writing Center.

Bottom Line:  Early assessment indicates an increase in tutoring services, and participation in our internship program.

The Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) at Knox College provides academic support services targeting students with disabilities, students for whom English is a second language, and students in need of supplemental instruction.

Language Skills I and II; English as a Second Language; Mathematical Concepts for Algebra and Statistics, and Introduction to Peer Tutoring are some of the provided CTL courses. Other services include a peer tutoring program and writing instruction/assistance program as well as academic accommodations for students with documented disabilities.

Funding comes for the institution and private donations.

Bottom Line:  In the 2008-09 academic year, 553 students (or nearly 40 percent of the student population) used CTL services.

The CHAMPS (Communities Helping, Assisting, Motivating Promising Students) program at Presbyterian College helps underprivileged students from Laurens County, S.C. Students are selected when they are in the sixth grade, participate through high school. CHAMPS volunteers help students with their schoolwork and mentor them to keep them focused on their goals. Students attend summer camp at the college each year, experiencing college life as they go to classes and live in residence halls for a week.

Bottom Line:  The average high school graduation rate of CHAMPS students is 84 percent. More than 95 percent of those graduates go on to enroll in a postsecondary institution.

The Character U program at DeSales University was developed as a resource to help first-year students make the transition from high school to college. The DeSales program includes speakers, diverse programs, campus events, and meetings with peer mentors. The program is based on character traits, including patience, trust and cooperation, perseverance, love, forgiveness, and hope.

Character U is funded by the university.

The Chemistry Camps at Calvin College target students in grades 6-8. The week-long camps are designed to teach introductory chemical concepts. Students have the opportunity to experience the world of chemistry in fun and entertaining ways. Funding is though tuition and institutional resources.

The Clean Recovery program at CSS is a support program for traditional or non-traditional students who have been through treatment for addiction, have been clean for six months or more, and is pursuing their bachelors or higher degree at St. Scholastica.

It provides on- or off-campus sober living supervised by peer managers. Support programs are provided, including AA and other regular meetings, counseling, and advising. Special emphasis is provided on transitioning to college and dealing with the stress and demands, and maintaining sobriety.

Funding comes from the institution and private sources.

The program is in its second year. The college will measure success by retention, academic success, and graduation. Students must meet behavioral standards to remain in the program, and the college will track the persistence rate in the program as well.

[White House Summit on College Opportunity, Jan. 2014]

Augustana’s “Close the Gap” program – announced in December in response to the President’s call to action – will improve access to high-quality, private, higher education for students with financial need that exceeds 80 percent of the cost to attend ($36,000 and above). Augustana College will address under-matching by cutting these students’ unmet financial need by $2,500 to $7,500 annually. To date $800,000 has been raised from private donors toward the $1 million the College estimates will be needed in order to reach its goal of positively impacting 10 percent of the class entering in fall of 2014 (70 students) for each of the next four years. 

Building on Existing Efforts: This new commitment builds on Augustana’s existing efforts to support success for low- income students. Augustana invested more than $39 million in financial aid grants and scholarships last year, and 96 percent of its enrolled students received some type of financial assistance. Augustana incents students with a $500 Early Filers Award encouraging Pell- and near-Pell-eligible students to complete the FAFSA in time to avoid early cut-offs in the State of Illinois’ Monetary Award Program; last year only 4 students failed to meet the deadline for MAP eligibility.

[White House Summit on College Opportunity, Jan. 2014]

Hiram College will commit to pursue a “cohort based model” to identify, recruit, prepare, and enroll groups of low-income students together and commits to work with these students as a group to help them persist and succeed through graduation. Hiram will accomplish this by expanding the college’s preexisting relationship with the Cleveland Compact which focuses on students enrolled in the Cleveland Municipal School District.  Hiram is also looking to partner with other school districts in the region as part of these efforts.

Building On Existing Efforts: For the 2013-2014 academic year, 45 percent of Hiram’s student body are first generation students.  Hiram awarded in excess of $12 million in need based aid for the 2012-2013 school year. Hiram is also continuing a policy of freezing the tuition paid by entering freshman students for their sophomore, junior, and senior years.  Hiram College has also entered into partnerships with three Ohio Community Colleges to offer completion degrees to associate degree holders at the Community College campuses. Hiram also has a STEM high school bridge program and has a number of endowed funds that assist low-income students with student life expenses, such as participating in off- campus cultural activities, and help them participate in the college’s study-abroad program.

STEM Commitments [White House Summit on College Opportunity, Dec. 2014]

GOALS:  Duke University aims to increase underrepresented minority student STEM degree completion by 8%.

ACTION PLAN:  To achieve this commitment, Duke will create the Collaboratory on Mentoring, Persistence, Assessment and Student Success (COMPASS) Project, an integrated suite of complementary efforts to chart new directions for STEM education.

The project will focus on students and faculty, spanning multiple departments and creating a community of STEM learners and research practitioners. Truly progressive teaching models move beyond simplistic versions of “what works” to a nuanced understanding that different strategies work for different students.

Duke University’s commitment to teaching to diversity (from the students and faculty to the content, teaching methods, and context) requires a shift away from a one-size-fits-all educational model. This approach draws on the 13 components of the successful UMBC Meyerhoff model, many of which, while at play at Duke, could be better connected into a more integrated whole. 

The College Achievement Program (CAP) at Mount Mary College is a one-semester program for both first-year and transfer students who have been conditionally accepted to Mount Mary College. It provides each student with advising, tutoring, and class meetings with faculty from their major; connects students with support services; and guides them through their next registration process. Students and their tutors create a personal, semester plan designed to help students address areas of deficiency.

Bottom Line:  For each group of students participating in CAP, their first-semester grade point averages after completing the program are higher than for those students who did not participate.