Completion Strategies in the West: Student Success Strategies

Student success strategies focus on supporting student completion by providing interventions outside the academic classroom. First and foremost, every state in the West prioritizes affordability, aiming to ensure that cost does not serve as a barrier to completion, though this is operationalized differently depending on each state’s unique context. Another popular statewide focus is student advising, providing appropriate guidance for students’ paths to completion. From shaping system policy to providing shared resources, states can impact advising quality in different ways. More recently, states across the West have launched initiatives to support student access to basic needs and mental health services, in response to research linking these supports with student retention and completion.

These student success strategies are explored across three resources:

• Check out the recent edition of WICHE Insights, Completion Strategies in the West: Student Success, to learn more about how states in the WICHE region are developing and implementing data informed student success strategies to support college completion.
• A forthcoming accompanying research summary will provide an overview of research and evidence related to key student success strategies.
• See below for a dashboard of selected student success strategies by state.

Publications

Student Success Strategies Across the Region

This dashboard highlights student success strategies identified in state strategic plans across the region. Use the filter on the right to view by completion strategy. State-by-state scans of completion strategies can be viewed on the state completion profiles.

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