Student Success

National Student Success Project

Together, all those who sign on share a common purpose: To amplify and learn from best practices; and to strive always to innovate and improve.

Visit the project website.

Colleges and universities across America are mobilizing to advance an agenda centered on the success of all students.

Colleges and universities across America are mobilizing to advance an agenda centered on the success of all students. The National Student Success Project spells out five concrete commitments that define how institutions equip students to reach their full potential. They focus on value, affordability, academic excellence, career ambitions, and civil dialogue.

The commitments address practical concerns from students and families:

Will the degree or certificate I’m seeking advance my goals in life?
Can I afford it?
How strong are the academic programs, and can I get help if I need it?
How can I explore potential careers? Will my professors and classmates support free speech and respect differences?
Will I feel like I belong?

Taken together, the commitments also represent a forward-looking, nonpartisan agenda to respond to legitimate questions from Americans who are unsure about higher education. We take those questions seriously and seek every day to earn the public’s trust. The commitments, illuminated through work under way at colleges and universities around the country, reinforce that our institutions understand student success is job one.

Learn more at the National Student Success Project website.

Join the movement.

When an institution signs onto the project, it is agreeing that these commitments represent a collective aspiration for higher education.

Every college and university is unique. Exactly how institutions support students can vary widely depending on their size and mission. But together, all those who sign on share a common purpose: To amplify and learn from best practices; and to strive always to innovate and improve. That is the paramount goal.

We invite you to join the movement. Contact our team to learn more and share the innovations and actions that illustrate how your institution is fulfilling one or more of these commitments and helping to move higher education forward. We plan to showcase these positive examples to the nation through a new website and other venues.

AASCU Representatives on the Advisory Board

Bonita J.

Brown

Chancellor

Winston-Salem State University (NC)

Bennie L.

Harris

Chancellor

University of South Carolina Upstate

Philomena

Mantella

President

Grand Valley State University (MI)

Jeanette

Nuñez

President

Florida International University

Student Success Commitments

Higher education is the essential engine of American prosperity, delivering immense benefits to the nation. Its most fundamental obligation is to help students reach their full potential. As leaders of colleges and universities, public and private, we know each of our institutions fulfills that responsibility in its own way. Students across America, no matter what their background, can pursue their ambitions through the extraordinary range of programs we offer. Collectively, we unite in support of these commitments to help them succeed.

America’s colleges and universities will:

That means they finish their academic programs and flourish afterwards, equipped with knowledge and skills that can lead to meaningful employment and a life of purpose.

That means full transparency about college costs; policies welcoming transfer students and credits they have already earned; and financial aid and other support for those in need.

That means many things, including courses that challenge and inspire; continuous assessment of teaching tools and methods; student participation in cutting-edge research and discovery; close faculty engagement with students; and timely academic help for those who need it.

That means facilitating paid internships, service learning, apprenticeships, and more. It also means advising that connects coursework to potential careers.

That means we teach them how to think — not what to think — how to engage respectfully across differences, and how to become caring and responsible citizens.

These commitments reflect work already taking place at our colleges and universities. Now is the time to accelerate our progress together. We will listen to students and other partners, assess outcomes, share effective practices, and strive always to improve. We aspire to build a movement to lift higher education to new heights, for the public good and for the students of today and tomorrow. We want higher graduation rates nationwide, lower student debt, and academic programs that help our graduates achieve their goals in life. Students, families, and the nation deserve no less.

How to get involved.

The project establishes a common direction, not a uniform operating model. Institutional approaches vary depending on missions, students, communities, and resources.

They are student-centered expectations describing what higher education as a whole should seek to make possible for every student. They are also leadership commitments that require coordination across many units within an institution. Finally, they are a public affirmation of purpose that complements existing institutional strategies, student-success initiatives, and other efforts.

They are intentionally aspirational. Affirming them does not suggest that every institution has fully achievedevery commitment. It signals a willingness to pursue them, assess progress honestly, and improve over time.

Presidents and chancellors are encouraged to consider the commitments in the context of their own institutional missions and priorities. Leaders might begin by asking:

How is our institution already delivering on these commitments?
When do students experience inconsistency or unnecessary barriers?
What institutional changes would make the commitments more visible and reliable for every student?

The commitments can be used to initiate cabinet and board discussions, connect existing initiatives under a common student-centered narrative, identify areas requiring greater coordination, and communicate
more clearly with students and the public about the institution’s responsibilities. The goal is to reinforce that student success lies at the heart of the institution’s work.

Email Heidi Tseu. Heidi is assistant vice president for national engagement at the American Council on Education.