As student demographics and needs continue to evolve, colleges are realizing that supporting success extends well beyond tutoring and advising. Institutions are investing in a wide range of supports, from mandatory academic interventions to free childcare and basic needs services.
While each of the four campuses showcased below has taken a different approach, they share a common belief: that helping students graduate often means removing barriers that exist outside the classroom.
- Ferrum College: Mandatory Support Programs
Ferrum College in Virginia is taking a proactive approach to delivering support services to students on academic probation, who are often among the least likely to seek the help they need to stay enrolled.
In 2024, the private college launched Students Taking Academic Responsibility, or STAR, a mandatory academic intervention program for students on academic probation. Those whose semester GPA falls below 2.5—or who enter the college with a high school GPA below 2.5—are automatically enrolled, rather than asked to opt in.
STAR combines weekly academic coaching, course-specific tutoring, attendance accountability and a one-credit college skills seminar grounded in Stoic philosophy. The program is built on the idea that personal responsibility is a skill that can be taught, rather than simply a trait students either possess or lack.
While the idea of mandatory intervention may give some colleges pause, John DeVault, associate vice president of student success at Ferrum, said waiting for struggling students to seek help often means waiting too long.
“I saw trends with students that had nothing to do with how smart they were,” DeVault said. “They didn’t know how to use the resources around them, and there was a lot of anxiety about asking for help or even admitting they were having an issue. What I’ve seen is that you have to require it, and most families love that. They love having that safety net for their students.”
- LaGuardia Community College: Free Summer Childcare
LaGuardia Community College’s Early Childhood Learning Center hosts Horizons NYC, a free, seven-week summer program that combines childcare with academic enrichment, swimming, art and field trips.
Now in its second year, Horizons NYC at LaGuardia is the first and only Horizons program in New York City located on a college campus, serving student parents and their children.
Each summer, the program welcomes a new cohort of rising kindergartners while adding a grade level as returning students get older. This year, Horizons reached capacity with 45 students—15 each entering kindergarten and first and second grade—and has a wait list.
The Early Childhood Learning Center provides free, year-round childcare for 209 children of student parents, ranging in age from 6 months to 12 years. Horizons expands that support during the summer by serving an additional 45 children through the seven-week enrichment program.
Sonya Evariste, executive director of the Early Childhood Learning Center programs at LaGuardia, said the Horizons wait list reflects the strong demand among student parents for affordable summer childcare. She noted that the program will continue expanding one grade each year until it serves students from kindergarten through ninth grade.
“We wanted to ensure that we have campus childcare available for student parents so that they can meet their goals and finish their education without worrying about their children,” Evariste said. “Having their children right here on campus is major for them.”
- Stony Brook University: Basic Needs Pantry
To address affordability concerns that have left many college students struggling to cover tuition as well as food, housing and other expenses, Stony Brook University has transformed its traditional campus food pantry, Seawolves Pantry, into a broader hub for basic needs support. Originally opened in 2013, the pantry expanded its hours and services in 2020 as student demand increased during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Today, the pantry stocks culturally significant foods, multilingual educational materials and an expanded selection of hygiene products, including skincare and dental care items. The new inventory reflects a reality many students know well: Groceries are only one part of the rising cost of living. University leaders said the pantry is designed to address a range of basic needs that can influence students’ ability to stay focused on their education.
Stony Brook University’s Seawolves Pantry stocks culturally significant foods, multilingual educational materials and an expanded selection of hygiene products.
Katie McCombs, coordinator for the Department of Student Community Development at Stony Brook, said pantry usage has increased by almost 30 percent over the past year, rising from about 7,000 student visits during the 2024–25 academic year to roughly 9,000 this academic year.
The data also challenges common assumptions about which students are most likely to experience food insecurity. McCombs said pantry usage is split evenly between undergraduate and graduate students, as well as between residential and commuter students.
“People often assume that because commuters may not have a meal plan or graduate students don’t have the same financial support that undergraduate students do, there would be more of a lean in one way or another,” McCombs said. “But the truth of the matter is that undergraduate, graduate, residential and commuter students are all facing food insecurity in very similar ways.”
- Coppin State University: Reducing Nontuition Expenses
Coppin State University is working to reduce nontuition expenses for students who live on campus but face rising costs for food and other basic needs that may impact their ability to remain enrolled.
Beginning this fall, the public, historically Black university in Baltimore will lower meal plan costs by 12 percent through a newly negotiated food service agreement. The university will also keep mandatory student fees flat, part of a broader effort to reduce financial barriers, limit student debt and support degree completion.
Coppin State University will lower board-plan costs this fall by implementing a new food service agreement and keeping mandatory student fees flat.
The changes come as institutions nationwide grapple with the growing role that nontuition expenses play in student success. While tuition often dominates conversations about college affordability, food, housing and transportation costs can also affect students’ ability to remain enrolled.
Coppin President Anthony Jenkins said the reductions reflect the institution’s commitment to boosting affordability through strategic financial management and operational efficiencies. He added that rising food costs and growing concerns about basic needs insecurity among college students helped inform the university’s decision.
“We started looking at where else could we help students save, and where can we help families save,” Jenkins said. “Right now we’re in an environment where everything is going up—the cost of gas, the cost of energy, the cost of food.”
“With what we were seeing around food insecurity and the rising cost of all of these external factors, we wanted to have an impact on one of the biggest expenses for college students, and that’s their meal plan,” he said.
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