ERIC Number: ED628348
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2023-May
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Finding Help outside the Classroom: Approaches for Supporting College Students' Basic Needs. Perspectives. PE-A2527-1
Bozick, Robert; Mulhern, Christine
RAND Corporation
This Perspective builds on a related RAND Corporation report that describes the implementation of Findhelp at four North Carolina community colleges in 2021 and 2022. Findhelp is an online tool to connect students to resources in their communities to help meet their basic nonacademic needs. The North Carolina Community College System, with support from the John M. Belk Endowment, contracted with RAND to track the implementation and student usage of Findhelp, estimate its impacts on student success, and understand the cost-effectiveness of using the program to increase student retention. This Perspective summarizes the main findings from the longer report and then contextualizes the findings in the broader literature. While Findhelp was perceived by college staff as a low-cost and easy-to-implement tool, few students used the tool during the study period. Despite low usage rates, the study findings suggest that students who accessed Findhelp had better academic outcomes than similar students who did not access Findhelp. The broader literature suggests at least three strategies to build on lessons learned to improve support for college students' basic needs. This Perspective concludes with a discussion of these strategies to improve the uptake and effectiveness of initiatives aiming to support students' basic needs in colleges across the United States. [For the full report, "Report on the Implementation, Costs, and Impacts of the Findhelp Platform in the North Carolina Community College System. Research Report. RR-A2527-1," see ED627507.]
Descriptors: College Students, Student Needs, Community Resources, Community College Students, School Personnel, Attitudes, Cost Effectiveness, Program Implementation, Program Effectiveness, Academic Achievement, Control Groups, Student Behavior, Dropout Prevention
RAND Corporation. P.O. Box 2138, Santa Monica, CA 90407-2138. Tel: 877-584-8642; Tel: 310-451-7002; Fax: 412-802-4981; e-mail: order@rand.org; Web site: http://www.rand.org
Publication Type: Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education; Two Year Colleges
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: John M. Belk Endowment
Authoring Institution: RAND Corporation
Identifiers - Location: North Carolina
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A