Placing students on academic probation is a pervasive practice at colleges and universities, but the lasting impact--and arguably even the purpose--of academic probation is unclear. The present study explored the influence of academic probation on four-year graduation using regression discontinuity analyses with a dataset of 9,777 undergraduates.…

Community colleges serve as critical access points to higher education for Black students. However, current outcomes suggest that Black students are not being properly served in America's community colleges. Although well-meaning institutional leaders often create policies and programs aimed at improving success rates for students from…

University students who are placed on academic warning are often required to enroll in a course or program to support their return to good academic standing. This case study investigated the major issues that contributed to first-year students' academic struggles and how their participation in the Learning Contract course, guided by Appreciative…

The issue of college student retention remains a critical concern in higher education. Institutions have begun to address this issue through the development of academic enhancement programs. These programs are designed to increase student success and prior research largely supports their efficacy. However, a paucity of research exists to…

This study focused on understanding the circumstances that led to students being placed on academic probation and the effect of a support program on their academic recovery. Understanding students lived experiences that lead to academic underperformance is vital to the development and implementation of academic support programs. Ensuring that the…

Although there is a wealth of literature focused on how and why college students persist, less is known about a subpopulation of college students: students on academic probation and/or financial aid warning status, i.e., students who are potentially one semester away from academic suspension and/or lost financial aid eligibility. This study seeks…

Malleable, noncognitive psychological factors such as grit and resilience are seen as critical for academic success and have garnered significant attention from researchers and policymakers. However, there is nontrivial overlap between these two constructs, and it remains unclear whether grit, resilience, or both, constitute the optimal target(s)…

Although approximately 20% of American college students are on academic probation, relatively little is known about how community college students perceived academic probation's role in assisting them throughout their entire college journey. The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of community college students who experienced…

Objective: Superiority experiments supply a critical lens to probe higher education interventions because they can dismantle the collective effect of a program and identify the relative contribution of the core components. However, such lines of inquiry are generally absent in higher education literature. We draw on experimental data to probe the…

The reward systems typically found in colleges and universities often serve as a barrier rather than a catalyst for improving teaching. As such, an increasing number of university faculty members are using their own classrooms as a site of inquiry and reflective practice (e.g. self-study) to concurrently advance their own research and teaching.…

This study compares Kalamazoo Promise (KPromise) students to non-Promise, public high school graduating students at a 4-year institution. The final sample for this study was N=9,969; n = 310 (3%) were KPromise students. Descriptive analysis suggests that KPromise students were racially more diverse and less affluent than non-Promise students.…

To provide an example of outcomes assessment that aligns with student affairs standards (Finney & Horst, 2019a), we share our process of assessing a mandated eight-week program for students on academic probation. Furthermore, our process highlights the value of using existing theory and research to inform assessment and program redesign…

Though many colleges and universities claim to be driven by missions that highlight access, equity, and student success, academic policy and practice do not always mirror these claims. American higher education institutions are "obsessed with smartness" (Astin, 2017), yet fail to support educational attainment in an equitable manner.…

In 2022-2023, The RP Group surveyed over 7,000 African American/Black students across the California Community Colleges (CCC) system to further explore their transfer experiences. This report offers a selection of highlights from this comprehensive, statewide survey and specifically elevates findings related to the four core student experiences:…

Studies of academic recovery courses (ARCs) focus almost exclusively on academic outcomes, such as postcourse grade point average (GPA) and academic standing. This study explores the role of noncognitive factors--specifically attribution perspective, shame resilience, and academic identity--for students engaged in ARCs. Pre- and postcourse data…