The Benefits of a Provisional Admission Program as a Strategy to Increase Enrollment

Robin Stewart, Director, Impact Programs, Center for Academic Performance and Persistence, College of Charleston

The Benefits of a Provisional Admission Program as a Strategy to Increase Enrollment

A report by the Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education found that “provisional admission programs can provide the much-needed structure and support that many academically underprepared students need upon enrolling in college” (Nichols & Clinedinst, 2013). Provisional or Conditional admission programs allow colleges and universities to increase their enrollment numbers and provide greater access to higher education for students who fall below admission standards. Creating a provisional program can be a strategy for colleges & universities seeking to increase tuition revenue without having to lower their academic admission standards in order to remain competitive (Hughes et al., 2020).

College of Charleston Provisional Program Overview

Located in Charleston, South Carolina, the College of Charleston is a public institution with more than 10,000 students. In 2012, the Director of the Center for Academic Performance & Persistence determined that provisionally admitted students were not given enough targeted support to reach the GPA and credit requirements needed in order to be fully admitted after receiving feedback from students and parents. The Director worked with Institutional Research to do a comprehensive data review to determine predictive factors of graduation for these students. After the review was completed, the provisional program became the First Year Impact (FYI) program in 2015 and expanded to support both provisionally admitted and bridge students in their transition from high school through their first academic year of college. The Director and Program Coordinator of Impact Programs manage the FYI program at the College of Charleston.

The FYI program now supports about 300 students each semester with over 50 peer academic coaches mentoring them. The key elements of the FYI program were completing specific academic requirements supported by the involvement of peer academic coaches and FYI program staff. Students in the FYI program signed a learning contract outlining the academic requirements they would need to meet during their first two semesters. The FYI program contract requirements were created to assist students in their transition from high school to college level classes. Those requirements included a minimum 2.00 GPA and completion of 24 credits, bi-weekly meetings with a peer academic coach (PAC), attendance at advising sessions, and grade monitoring by program staff. Additionally, students not meeting the GPA requirement after the first semester are required to take EDLS-100 Learning Strategies, an academic recovery class. After the second semester, students who have met the requirements become fully enrolled at the College of Charleston. Students not meeting program requirements cannot continue at the College of Charleston and must complete 30 hours of transferable credit at another accredited institution before applying for conditional readmission at a future date.

Importance of Peer Academic Coaches

Based on a survey given by FYI staff at the end of the Fall 2020 semester, 93.5% of students in the program responded that their PAC was the most important aspect of the FYI program. FYI staff hire and train former FYI students for these paid leadership positions each academic year. Students who successfully completed the program and work as a PAC are able to build strong connections with current FYI students since they can provide a personal perspective on how the program helped them and can help students navigate similar challenges. Academic Coaches give individualized support by going through syllabi for each class, guiding preparation for upcoming assignments and exams, and helping students create weekly time management plans that balance completing coursework with extracurricular activities and work. A current provisionally admitted student said the following:

“I loved being a part of the first-year impact program, and having a PAC really helped ease the transition. The first year impact program gave me tools and methods to be successful here at the College, and I plan on using these for the rest of my life. I met with my PAC and talked with her about my studies, how I was doing, and she was always there for me whenever I needed her. Being a part of this really helped ease my transition, helped me get to know my way around campus, and I could ask her questions and advice which was really helpful as well.”

Academic coaches also connect students to campus resources such as faculty office hours, the counseling center, academic tutoring, and the student health center. They also share opportunities for students to engage on campus through student organizations and attending events.

Role of FYI Staff

FYI program staff also play an integral role in supporting FYI students. They collaborate with the Center for Student Learning to offer academic workshops for FYI students on topics such as time management, critical reading skills, and test taking strategies. Program staff review midterm grades and meet with students not meeting the GPA requirement who are at risk for not being able to continue as a student at the College of Charleston. When final grades post, all students are emailed an update with their current GPA, credits, and expectations for the next semester. FYI staff also meet individually with students who are not meeting program requirements after their first semester. Challenges are discussed with the student for goal setting and determining a plan for improvement in order to be continued after their second semester. A former FYI student said the following:

“The impact program is a great experience. I feel very fortunate that I am/ was a part of it genuinely. I feel as though I have some type of upper hand on most students. This program makes me feel like people other than my mom genuinely care about me becoming the absolute best and healthiest me. The only thing I would like to add or say is a thank you to Robin Stewart. She genuinely is one of the nicest, most genuine people I have ever met. As soon as I joined a zoom call with her I instantly felt a positive vibration from her. Her smile is radiant and she makes me and I am sure everyone she meets feels welcome. So much so that I met with her twice by choice and strongly expressed how much I enjoyed her presence! Also, thank you for believing in me and not being another negative person in my ear saying that I couldn’t do it. She made me feel excited to speak with her.”

Conclusion

Over the last two years, 85% of students in the FYI program have been successfully retained as fully enrolled students at the College of Charleston. For institutions considering creating a provisional program, be sure to conduct a needs-based assessment on your college mission and strategic plan to determine your program goals based on resources available at your institution (Nichols & Clinedinst, 2013). Provisional programs allow students to demonstrate that they are capable of being successful in college even though they were not originally offered full admission. Students benefit by having greater access to higher education and institutions benefit by increasing enrollment numbers for students who would otherwise not have the opportunity to attend. Even before the financial impacts of COVID-19, the competition for students had become more critical. State funding for colleges and universities has steadily decreased since the 2008 recession and the overall number of high school students available to pursue higher education has dropped over the last 10 years (Butrymowicz & D’Amato, 2020). Institutions need to seek new targeted admission strategies to prevent a significant decline in future tuition revenue. Creating a provisional admission program could provide the financial solution colleges are looking for to help mitigate continued budget cuts due to the current nationwide enrollment crisis.

References

Butrymowicz, S. & D’Amato, P. (2020). A crisis is looming for U.S. colleges - and not just because of the pandemic. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews. com/news/education/crisis-looming-u-s-colleges-not-just-becausepandemic-n1235338

Hughes, P., Nutter, C., & Ryan, J. (2020). A second chance at success: Retention through provisional admission programs. The Consortium for Student Retention Data Exchange. https://csrde.ou.edu/wp-content/uploads/ White-Paper-2020-A-Second-Chance-at-Success.pdf

Nichols, A.H., & Clinedinst, M. (2013). Provisional admission practices: Blending access and support to facilitate student success. The Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education.http://www. pellinstitute.org/downloads/publications-Provisional_Admission_ Practices_April_ 2013.pdf

CONTACT

Robin Stewart: stewartrc@cofc.edu