Data from the National College Attainment Network and America Forward find nonprofits lack access to public funds for student success work.
Jacob Ammentorp Lund/iStock/Getty Images Plus
Student success has grown as a priority within higher education, with the aim of reducing the number of students who do not graduate with a credential or degree. While many colleges and universities are championing these efforts internally, other nonprofit partners in the sector help aid students with support resources, financial aid, coaching and more.
A March report from the National College Attainment Network and America Forward sought to understand limitations to scaling student success efforts among nonprofit organizations.
Nonprofit providers lead in providing evidence-based college access and success interventions, but these programs have not scaled at the rate needed or “as quickly as the evidence warrants,” according to the report. “In many cases, highly promising postsecondary student success models in the earlier stages of program development have lacked dedicated support to refine, test, adapt and implement strategies that respond to the broad scope of student needs.”
The report identifies a lack of data and public funding support as two key barriers to growing and sustaining evidence-based efforts that aid college access and completion.
About the Survey
The National College Attainment Network and America Forward surveyed 54 nonprofit organizations of various sizes. The survey analyzed program details, including budget, funding, staff and the population of students served.
Among respondents, most student success programs begin with students in high school (87 percent) and continue through two-year (83 percent) and four-year institutions (83 percent). One-quarter (26 percent) of programs supported returning adult learners. The size and scope of each organization varied as well, with budgets ranging from $100,000 to $200 million per year and full-time-equivalent staff from one to 750.
The greatest share of organizations gave a specific populations of learners (such as first-generation or Native American students) advising and financial support. At least half of providers offer financial aid advising, college selection, success coaching, scholarship aid, mentorship and emergency financial aid.
Gauging need: The most frequent barriers to college completion for students were the cost of education (71 percent), living expenses (55 percent) and mental health challenges (56 percent).
After graduation, students’ career success barriers are a lack of social capital (85 percent), insufficient carer navigation support (75 percent) and limited access to internships (65 percent).
A disproportionate number of programs have headquarters or sites in California, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina and Texas, with a focus on urban centers, which researchers wrote indicates a need for more in-person support for students from rural areas as well.
Understanding outcomes: Researchers found three in four nonprofit groups have formal partnerships with colleges and universities at least sometimes, typically related to data sharing.
Collecting academic information from institutions remains a challenge in this work. Seventy-four percent of respondents rely on their own administrative data to measure impact, with only 39 percent accessing data from the college partner.
Groups lack access to other relevant data sources, with only a fraction of respondents utilizing workforce data (24 percent) and public benefits participation regarding basic needs insecurity (9 percent).
Success program providers often collect and evaluate data to improve offerings, with many programs participating in a formal evaluation. Evaluations can come at high costs both financially and relationally, as randomized controlled trials can require a higher number of program participants, which can hinder staff capacity.
Funding growth: A majority of providers are looking to scale their offerings—through strengthening existing services or adding new ones (72 percent), serving more students (63 percent), or adding more sites (50 percent). One in five organizations plan to adapt their model (20 percent).
But most lack sufficient and sustained funding needed to scale, particularly from the public sector. Almost all (95 percent) groups receive philanthropy dollars, and half get funding from corporations. Around one in five receives funds from K-12 school districts or colleges and universities, and 43 percent receive any public funding.
Some of the reasons organizations have not accessed public funding are a lack of awareness of grant opportunities (44 percent), a lack of capacity for the application process (43 percent) and a lack of capacity for financial reporting (43 percent).
Other obstacles to growth include hiring and staffing (55 percent), organizational infrastructure (35 percent) and recruiting and retaining student participants (30 percent).
So what? In response, report authors recommend policymakers:
- Invest in federal, state and local funding. At the federal level, researchers recommend investment in the Postsecondary Student Success Grants program to scale high-impact programs, as only one of the 22 grantees for the PSSG has been a nonprofit organization. Additionally, the federal government should invest in existing programs such as TRIO, GEAR UP and AmeriCorps, which address barriers to higher education.
- Provide greater access to federal funding. Nonprofits have limited opportunities to access federal funds for student success work, and red tape can further hinder access.
- Update federal student success program designs. Policymakers can build more flexibility into programs that qualify for grants that address local needs.
- Strengthen infrastructure for success. Organizations need additional support for program improvement and scaling, which could include evaluation and research, communities of practice, and data system assistance.
We bet your colleague would like this article, too. Send them this link to subscribe to our newsletter on Student Success.
