Factors to Consider When Building a Student Success Strategy

When it comes to their success in higher education, students have always been in the driver’s seat. However, institutions still have a major responsibility when it comes to ensuring student success; they need to establish and upkeep an institution-wide student success program that supports positive student experiences and outcomes. But when it comes to building a lasting student success strategy, what concerns need to be considered? What areas directly influence student success?

Let’s look at some of the factors that institutions need to consider and include when building an all-encompassing, longstanding student success strategy.

What Are Some Factors That Shape Student Success?

The definition of “success” varies between students—and, in many cases, institutions. Students with athletic scholarships, for example, may view success as playing in or winning a championship. Other students may define success as getting good grades, graduating on time, and landing a job in their dream career field. Others may consider a successful college experience one that fosters personal growth and lifelong relationships.

Despite these wide-ranging definitions, there are some common factors that play a role in enabling most “successful” outcomes. As such, institutions need to incorporate these factors into their student success strategies, monitoring each area and ensuring that students of all backgrounds can experience what success means to them.

• Basic Needs: Every student, regardless of background or goals, has fundamental needs that must be met to succeed. Institutions should assess and track basic needs to ensure students have access to essential resources such as food, housing, childcare, transportation, and technology. A comprehensive student success program should include a basic needs assessment, along with proactive support in these areas. 
• Mental Health: While stress is often a natural part of the higher education experience, recent studies indicate that factors such as excessive technology use—particularly social media—can contribute to increased depression and feelings of isolation. When combined with online or remote learning, financial concerns, questions about college ROI, and external responsibilities like jobs and families, mental health challenges have become increasingly prominent. Institutions must address these issues head-on by integrating counseling services and wellness outcomes into their student success programs and providing students with the mental, physical, and emotional support they need.
• Financial Support: The financial obstacle is one of higher education’s most common barriers to entry. Because many students require financial assistance, an institution’s student success program should track and monitor financial support systems. This can include monitoring FAFSA completions, enabling and tracking access to financial aid programs, identifying and mitigating the impact that holds may have on persistence, and more. By making it easier for students to pay for college, institutions may see improvements in enrollment, retention, and completion rates.
  
• Career Outcomes: Questions surrounding the return on investment for a college degree have become more prevalent recently. To reinforce the value of higher education, institutions should track data on internships, licensure, employment, and wages. Advisors and other institutional support roles can use this information to guide students, expand academic programming, launch curated marketing initiatives, and more.

There are many technologies today that can empower staff with more resources and tools to support student success. Platforms can analyze data in real time to provide advisors, counselors, and other decision-makers with critical information on the fly. Other systems can help staff create highly interactive, collaborative environments designed to develop and foster strong relationships with students. Tools powered by artificial intelligence have made some of these processes even easier—but an institution’s student success program must not neglect the human element.

As institutions look to the future, it’s important to consider the weight of their student success strategy. Students are the lifeblood of higher education, and their perception of success will factor in their decision to attend—or stay at—one institution or another. An institution-wide student success strategy that focuses on the factors that directly impact student experiences should never be an afterthought.