The sophomore year represents a critical transition for students. As institutions shift their attention from these students to the incoming class, sophomores can feel unsupported as they face increased academic challenges and explore major and career options. Sophomore dropout and disengagement has led administrators, faculty, and researchers to increase their attention to these students’ unique needs.

The 2019 National Survey of Sophomore-Year Initiatives sought to explore institutional responses to and support for sophomore students. This new report reviews these findings, including institutional practices related to academic advising for sophomores. Additionally, the report offers implications for research and practice by highlighting the ways in which institutional efforts and initiatives can be better designed for responsiveness based on differences in campus context, student backgrounds, and student needs.

When it was originally released, Thriving in Transitions: A Research-Based Approach to College Student Success represented a paradigm shift in the student success literature, moving the student success conversation beyond college completion to focus on student characteristics that promote high levels of academic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal performance in the college environment. The authors contend that a focus on remediating student characteristics or merely encouraging specific behaviors is inadequate to promote success in college and beyond. Drawing on research on college student thriving completed since 2012, the newly revised collection presents six research studies describing the characteristics that predict thriving in different groups of college students, including first-year students, transfer students, high-risk students, students of color, sophomores, and seniors, and offers recommendations for helping students thrive in college and life. New to this edition is a chapter focused on the role of faculty in supporting college student thriving.

Traditionally, institutional supports for college student success have been concentrated in the first and senior years, though attention to the sophomore year has increased over the last two decades. Paying attention to the second college year is vitally important, as some evidence suggests students are more likely to leave their institution during this time than they are in the first year. The case studies of sophomore initiatives featured in this volume describe programs that build on institutional objectives for the first college year and prepare students for the transition to the major and, ultimately, graduation. Rich program descriptions and discussions of assessment provide practitioners focused on designing a cohesive undergraduate experience excellent models to guide their work.

The National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition has been studying the structure and administration of high-impact practices in the first college year for nearly three decades. 

This package offers the most comprehensive landscape study of these initiatives to date, drawing on analysis of the 2017 National Survey of the First-Year Experience. The survey includes sections on overall institutional attention to the first year, as well as common first-year programs including first-year seminars, academic advising, orientation, common-reading initiatives, early-alert programs, learning communities, and residential programs.

The package includes:

2017 National Survey on the First-Year Experience: Creating and Coordinating Structures to Support Student Success, a paperback report of the major findings of the survey with analysis of specific first-year initiatives written by scholars and practitioners in the field.

Response Frequencies from the 2017 National Survey on the First-Year Experience, an eBook which contains comprehensive data tables including responses to all survey items disaggregated by institutional type, control, and first-year cohort size.

Buy separately or as a package with the eBook Response Frequencies from the 2017 National Survey on the First-Year Experience.

The first-year seminar continues to be a common structure for supporting student success in higher education, yet it represents only one of many first-year programs.

With this in mind, the 2017 National Survey on The First-Year Experience marks a change from previous surveys administered by The National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition by exploring a broad range of initiatives designed to support success in the first college year.

Recognizing that individual first-year programs are connected to extensive bodies of literature and practice, authors representing diverse professional networks focused on college student success contribute their voices to the analyses and presentation of results. The report includes an overview of institutional attention to the first year and the prevalence of and connections between first-year programs, a review of the results relating to selected first-year programs, and implications for practice and future research.

The 2017 National Survey on the First-Year Experience was designed to explore the structure and administration of a broad range of initiatives designed to support success in the first college year. Specific sections of the survey examine overall institutional attention to the first year, as well as common first-year programs including first-year seminars, academic advising, orientation, common-reading initiatives, early-alert programs, learning communities, and residential programs.

Response Frequencies from the 2017 National Survey on The First-Year Experience is a fixed-layout eBook which contains comprehensive data tables including responses to all survey items disaggregated by institutional type, control, and first-year cohort size.

Buy the eBook separately or as a package with the print version of the Research Report on College Transitions No. 9, 2017 National Survey on the First-Year Experience: Creating and Coordinating Structures to Support Student Success.

Published in partnership with the National Institute for the Study of Transfer Students.

Analysis of bachelor’s degree completion suggests that only about a third of college graduates attend a single institution from start to finish. More than one quarter earn college credits from three or more schools before completing a degree. For most, these student-defined pathways lead to increased time-to-degree and higher costs. Many will simply drop out long before crossing the finish line. Ensuring college completion and success requires an understanding of the evolving nature of transfer transitions and a system-wide approach that reaches beyond two-year and four-year institutions to include high schools participating in dual enrollment programs and military college initiatives. A new edited collection offers insight into institutional and statewide partnerships that create clearly defined pathways to college graduation and career success for all students.

With the passage of the Post-9/11 GI Bill in 2008, more than 1.4 million service members and their families became eligible for higher education benefits, and veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan enrolled in colleges and universities in record numbers. The first wave of research about these new student veterans focused primarily on describing their characteristics and the transition from military service to civilian life and the college campus. This new edited collection presents findings from the second wave of research about student veterans, with a focus on data-driven evidence of academic success factors, including persistence, retention, degree completion, and employment after college. An invaluable resource for educators poised to enter the next phase of supporting military-connected college students.

Senior capstone experiences, one of a number of high-impact educational practices promoted by the Association of American Colleges and Universities, provide students with an opportunity to integrate and apply what they have learned throughout their undergraduate years. Participating in capstone experiences have been linked to engagement in deep learning and gains in personal and social development, practical competence, and general education. The 2016 National Survey of Senior Capstone Experiences is an institution-level study designed to gather a national profile of campus efforts to promote student success in the senior year. This research report presents findings related to institutional priorities for the senior year, the types of capstone experiences offered, and the organization and administration of select capstone experiences.

Published in partnership with NODA, the Association for Orientation, Transition, and Retention in Higher Education

Family members of new college students are often unsure what to expect and how to best help their students succeed in higher education. Focusing on the unique needs of commuter students, this brief guide describes typical challenges in adjusting to college, support services and opportunities offered by colleges and universities, and strategies family members can use to encourage student learning and success. A glossary of college terms is included.

$2.25 each when purchased in multiple copy pack of 100.

Published in partnership with NACADA: The Global Community for Academic Advising

Academic advisors help students learn to make the most of their college years, not merely by completing requirements toward a degree but also by growing intellectually and developing all aspects of their identity. Yet, many professional and faculty advisors are new to academic advising and may feel ill-equipped to do more than help students register for classes. This new edited collection provides an overview of the theory and best practice undergirding advising today while exploring the transition challenges of a wide-range of first-year college students, including those attending two-year colleges, coming from underrepresented backgrounds, entering underprepared for college-level work, and/or experiencing academic failure.

Published in partnership with the Washington Center for Improving the Quality of Undergraduate Education

First-year seminars and learning communities are two of the most commonly offered high-impact practices on U.S. campuses. The goals of these initiatives are similar: helping students make connections to faculty and other students, improving academic performance, and increasing persistence and graduation. As such, it is not surprising that many institutions choose to embed first-year seminars in learning communities.

This volume explores the merger of these two high-impact practices. In particular, it offers insight into how institutions connect them and the impact of those combined structures on student learning and success. In addition to chapters highlighting strategies for designing, teaching in, and assessing combined programs, case studies offer practical insights into the structures of these programs in a variety of campus settings.

Less is known about the second college year compared to other transition points, and fewer high-impact initiatives and curricular programs tend to be offered to sophomores. To increase our knowledge of this important, but sometimes neglected, year on the collegiate journey, The National Survey of Sophomore-Year Initiatives and the Sophomore Experiences Survey was undertaken. Researchers explored sophomore student characteristics, institutional efforts to support sophomores, and student perceptions of their learning and development. Divided into three sections, the report offers an overview of each survey instrument and an integrated discussion of findings and their implications for practice and ongoing research. The research report provides useful tools for institutions looking for benchmarks to create new sophomore-year programs or restructure existing initiatives.

In January 2014, the White House urged that college be made more accessible for low-income Americans. Moving beyond access to success, however, requires knowing more about the experiences of these students.

This research report captures the challenges low-income, first-generation students face in their collegiate journey, examining the strategies they employ to persist. Organized thematically and using student narrative, the brief report explores the diversity of first-generation students, the intersections of their multiple identities, and their interactions with the institutional agents that affect college success. An Exploration of Intersecting Identities of First-Generation, Low-Income Students also offers practical suggestions for higher education professionals working with this diverse and growing population. 

Published in partnership with NODA, the Association for Orientation, Transition, and Retention in Higher Education

Parents and family members play a critical role in the success of new college students, but those who never attended college or who have been away from it for a while may lack critical information about the purpose, goals, and structure of higher education today. This brief guide offers parents and families an overview of the college experience, especially in the first year, and suggests strategies for helping their students succeed. A glossary of key terms is included. Grounded in the student success research and practice literature, the guide is ideal for use in orientation programs, recruitment events, and family weekends.

$2.00 each when purchased in multiple copy pack of 100.

Published in partnership with NACADA, The Global Community for Academic Advising

As the focus on college completion and gainful employment intensifies, the stakes for students entering higher education and the institutions that serve them have never been higher. Yet, new students and their families may not understand the value of an educational plan for helping them stay on track and achieve their goals. They may have even less knowledge about how to create one. This brief guide focuses on the role of academic advisors in helping students chart a course for success and suggests how parents and family members can be partners in the journey. A glossary of key terms and list of frequently asked questions help demystify the college experience and highlight the many purposes of the academic advising relationship. A particularly useful resource for the families of first-generation college students and ideal for distribution at recruitment events, orientation, or parent and family programs.

$2.00 each when purchased in multiple copy pack of 100.

For a quarter century, the National Resource Center has been examining the prevalence, structure, and administration of first-year seminars on American college campuses. The 2012-2013 administration of the National Survey of First-Year Seminars was expanded to explore the connection between the seminar and other high-impact practices in the first college year, including learning communities, service-learning, common reading programs, undergraduate research, and writing instruction. Findings are disaggregated by institutional characteristics and seminar type so that readers may easily identify the course features with the greatest relevance for their own context.

The transition from high school to college is an important milestone, but it is only one of many steps in the journey through higher education. Interest in the many other transitions students make—through the sophomore year, from one institution to another, and out of college—has grown exponentially in the last decade. At the same time, educators recognize that each transition experience is unique, shaped by the individual student context. A new annotated bibliography helps researchers and practitioners navigate the emerging literature base on college student transitions beyond the first year, with special focus on adult learners, student veterans, and those studying in different cultures.

Increasing pressures on colleges and universities to ensure degree completion and job placement as measures of success make it imperative that the path to graduation is clear and that seniors receive the support needed to earn a degree and make a successful transition to life beyond college. This new edited collection describes today’s college seniors and offers strategies for supporting them to graduation through high-impact educational initiatives. Contributors also address issues related to career development; workplace transitions; and opportunities for integration, reflection, closure, and ongoing engagement as students leave college. Educators charged with improving the end-of-college experience will find this an invaluable resource.

Published in partnership with the American Association of Community Colleges

For the past three decades, American higher education has paid increasing attention to the beginning college experience -- to ensuring that entering students make a successful transition to college. Yet, much of the extant research and practice literature focuses on the experience of first-year students entering four-year colleges and universities. Fulfilling the Promise of the Community College is one of the first volumes to take a comprehensive look at the first-year experience in the community college, examining the unique characteristics of these institutions and the students they serve, barriers to success, and strategies for ensuring that students achieve their higher education goals. Authors describe successful adaptations of faculty development initiatives, first-year seminars, common reading programs, academic and career advising, learning communities, and STEM initiatives in the community college setting.

Designed for students and educational professionals researching students' movement into and through higher education, Crafting and Conducting Research on Student Transitions is a concise resource, describing both qualitative and quantitative methods. The authors walk readers through the process of selecting a topic, designing a study, and disseminating the research results on explorations of the college student experience from the first college year to beyond graduation. Ideal for use in graduate programs or professional writing groups and by educators who wish to contribute to this growing subspecialty of the higher education literature.

Published in partnership with the Association of Deans & Directors of University Colleges & Undergraduate Studies

Organizing for Student Success draws on data from more than 50 institutions to provide insight into how university colleges are organized, the initiatives they house, and the practices in place to ensure their effectiveness. Twenty case studies from 15 different campuses offer an in-depth understanding of institutional practice. Ultimately, university colleges are not only a structure for organizing educational experiences but also a catalyst for creating institutional change. An invaluable resource for first-year experience steering committees, general education reform committees, and other groups or administrators charged with reorganizing and revitalizing the delivery of undergraduate education.

Published in in partnership with Teesside University, United Kingdom

Students around the globe have unique first-year experiences but struggle with many of the same challenges. This monograph focuses on their journeys and provides insights for educators interested in learning about how institutions across the globe provide supports to students dealing with first-year transition issues. Based on the successful Exploring the Evidence monograph series, Nutt and Calderon present the inaugural collection of international first-year initiatives, demonstrating the portability and adaptability of these strategies in a variety of institutional contexts. Cases from a dozen different countries touch on a wide range of topics, including: academic advising and support, early-warning systems for at-risk students, first-year seminars, learning communities, orientation or induction, peer mentoring, retention initiatives, self-regulated learning, and supplemental instruction.

Published in partnership with NACADA, The Global Community for Academic Advising

This updated edition offers an easy-to-read overview of a critically important educational program. Written by a college faculty member and a veteran academic advisor, the guide describes the role of the academic advisor, outlines the advising process, and highlights important academic issues facing new college students. The second edition includes a new section on first-generation college students and an expanded discussion of career counseling.

$2.00 each when purchased in sets of 100. Click here to purchase 100-copy set.

On many campuses, graduate students are a prized resource, supporting faculty research and the undergraduate instructional mission. Yet attrition rates among master's and doctoral students are often alarmingly high. The 50th installment of The First-Year Experience Monograph Series describes the challenges associated with entry into graduate study and offers information about new initiatives and programs designed to ease their transition -- from unique orientations and mentoring structures to transition courses and graduate student centers. The monograph is written for educators concerned about master's or doctoral students and their road to success.

Educators have long been concerned with retaining students and helping them succeed, but their focus has been primarily on first-year students. Recently, this focus has widened to include a frequently invisible population -- second-year students. Shedding Light on Sophomores: An Exploration of the Second College Year turns our attention to this often-forgotten student population. This volume draws on campus-based and national research to describe the second college year and the initiatives designed to support it. Campus case studies offer a more detailed look at programs designed to help sophomores succeed, and a concluding chapter offers recommendations for the development of a range of initiatives in the second college year. Shedding Light on Sophomores offers a rich resource for any educator who cares about the status of second-year students and is committed to designing programs and services to support them.

Published in partnership with the Association of College and Research Libraries, a division of the American Library Association

While the library is at the center of many campuses physically, it is often an overlooked and underused resource in improving the learning and success of first-year college students. In this new volume, librarians, classroom faculty, administrators, and higher education researchers come together to explore the potential of the library in shaping the student experience. Chapter authors explore structures and practices for helping students learn to navigate the college library; use the Internet effectively; and find, analyze, and incorporate information into their academic work -- a critical foundation for college success. Thirteen case studies present detailed information on current practice from a variety of campus types.

Common reading programs are becoming a ubiquitous component of first-year experience initiatives. Sometimes controversial, these programs are designed to provide students an introduction to the intellectual expectations of college in an often-informal gathering of college faculty and peers. Yet, truly dynamic and successful programs move beyond book discussion groups to include students, faculty, staff, and the larger community in a wide range of social and intellectual activities. Laufgraben gathers examples from programs across the country to offer a concise and practical guide to planning, promoting, and assessing common reading initiatives.

Student Development in the First College Year provides a detailed overview of some of the most commonly referenced theories of learning and development in the college years. What sets this primer apart from other treatments of student development theory is its careful attention to the first college year and the wide range of educational environments in which learning and development take place. The primer includes a discussion of moving from theory to educational practice and strategies for assessing developmental outcomes.