Holistic Coaching, Targeted Support Help Low-Income Students Rise Above

Michelle Ashcraft, Director, Purdue Promise

Andrea Mattingly, Communications Director

Purdue University

For years, first-generation and low-income students have graduated at lower rates than their peers at Purdue University, a land-grant, public research institution that enrolls more than 32,000 undergraduates. This is particularly the case for Indiana 21st Century Scholars who enroll. Students in this program are identifiedas low-income and are more likely than their resident peers to be first-generation college students. These scholars apply in middle school to qualify for a tuition and fee scholarship guarantee if they graduate high school with a 2.5 GPA and remain drug- and crime-free. Before 2009, 21st Century Scholars were graduating at rates 10-11% lower than their Purdue peers.

To address the achievement gap, Purdue Promise was launched in 2009 to serve 21st Century Scholars with a total family income threshold of $50,000 or less, with the goal of graduating students on time and debt-free. Purdue Promise is unique as it is both an access and a support program. While many programs at U.S. institutions provide financial aid or support programming, Purdue Promise intentionally combines both. The successful combination has led to institutional, statewide, and national recognition.

A Move to Proactive Coaching

Purdue Promise staff quickly realized their students’ academic struggles had nothing to do with motivation or intelligence, and everything to do with life circumstances. Moreover, the program’s original support structure held nearly zero sway for those facing such overwhelming life experiences. Under the former model, students faced scholarship requirements that were heavily social and cohort-based, including peer mentoring, monthly events, workshops, numerous courses, tutoring, learning communities, and celebrations. The non-social components were prescribed, structured, and one-size-fits-all. These components did not address students’ individual academic struggles, their prior and current experiences, or the support students received elsewhere on campus. While this model worked for many students, for others some components were redundant or offered at the wrong time for their individual needs.

To improve students’ graduation prospects, in 2013 program leaders eliminated half of the scholarship requirements in favor of high-touch, proactive success coaching. Program leaders reallocated budgets for hundreds of student leaders to hire full-time student success coaches and make assistant directors supervisory. Today, eight full-time coaches each have a caseload of about 150 students per semester, and two assistant directors each serve 50 students on academic probation. Many staff members have master’s degrees in higher education, student affairs, social work, or counseling and receive extensive training—about 116 hours their first year. The training helps student success coaches address the academic side of their students’ lives as well as the complex issues that students face. Coaches also monitor students’ progress, help them find resources, and address problems that may affect their academic success and financial aid eligibility.

The coaching model begins with required orientation and a first-year seminar, in which instructors are assigned as student success coaches. Students meet with their coaches at least once outside class their first semester. They continue to meet two to eight times per semester through their junior year, based on an internal color-coding system designed around 12 at-risk factors known to lead to academic probation and loss of scholarship for program participants. Students also complete three online modules per semester focused on the Dimensions of Wellness (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2017), a holistic approach to overall physical and mental health. Seniors take a seminar in the fall semester called Life After College, which students candidly call “Adulting 101.” Next to coaching, the senior seminar is the most highly rated service the program offers.

Increasing On-time, Debt-free Graduation

The change to coaching has helped boost Purdue Promise students’ four-year graduation rate by more than 25 percentage points compared with the institution’s overall graduation rate increase of 13 percentage points in the same timeframe (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Four-year graduation rate for Purdue Promise students compared with others.

After the program introduced coaching to the 2012 and 2013 cohorts, student success rates began to climb. In fact, new data show students from the 2014 cohort now graduate at a higher rate than the rest of the student body at Purdue. Of 292 Purdue Promise students who started in Fall 2014, almost 63% graduated within four years, compared with 60% of the Purdue student body as a whole. These students make up the first cohort to experience coaching from first to senior year. Their success directly correlates with the introduction of the coaching model.

Beyond improved graduation prospects, 60% of the 2014 cohort graduated with no debt; those who did have debt took on less than the university average. Figure 2 represents indebtedness at graduation for Purdue Promise students from the 2013 and 2014 cohorts.

Figure 2. Rates of graduating without debt and average borrowing for students in Purdue Promise compared with resident undergraduates.

A reduced-cost study abroad program represents another way Purdue Promise is making college experiences more accessible and affordable. On average, students in Purdue Promise pay only 35% of the cost of a traditional short-term study abroad program, and most complete the trip (three weeks covering four cities in Spain) for $500 or less. Twenty students are selected for the program each year.

These students’ measurable academic gains are helping change the dialogue surrounding the student experience for low-income and first-generation groups. “There’s a misconception that students in Purdue Promise are underprepared or underqualified, but in reality they’ve had to meet the same academic standards as anyone else who was admitted to Purdue, often while overcoming other significant barriers,” said Jess Ramsey, the program’s assistant director. “Their success is especially meaningful when you consider the rippling impact it has on their siblings, families, friends back home, and their communities.”

Nearly every student response to Purdue Promise’s annual senior survey calls the program “life-changing.” Responses go into glowing detail about the encouragement and support of the Purdue Promise success coaches.

Enhancing Diversity and Inclusion Outcomes

As of Fall 2018, 62% of students in the Purdue Promise program were first-generation compared with 21% of the Purdue undergraduate population; 27% identified as underrepresented minorities versus 10% of the undergraduate population. Thus, Purdue Promise students span vast intersecting identities and help diversify the student body.

Though traditionally labeled at-risk nationally, low-income, first-generation, and underrepresented minority students in Purdue Promise are graduating at higher rates than their peers. The most recent four-year graduation rate for first-generation students in Purdue Promise was 57%; the undergraduate average at Purdue was 53%. Students who identified as underrepresented minorities in Purdue Promise earned a four-year graduation rate of 65%, compared with 52% for the Purdue undergraduate average.

Looking to the Future

Purdue Promise serves twice as many students and coaches as it did in 2014, and the program continues to grow. Its recent achievements beg the question: What would it take to extend the coaching model and financial support to more of the university’s low-income and traditionally at-risk populations?

Purdue Promise leaders aim to find out. A lofty goal would be to serve all low-income students in Indiana, but achieving that may mean incremental growth over time. Aligning with Purdue’s land-grant mission, program leaders hope to serve as many such students as possible. If improved graduation outcomes are any indication, though, holistic coaching and financial support for low-income students are investments worth making.

Reference

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). (2017). The eight dimensions of wellness. Retrieved from https://www.samhsa.gov/wellnessinitiative/eight-dimensions-wellness

Contact: Michelle Ashcraft, mashcraf@purdue.edu

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