Students come where they are welcome and stay where they feel cared about. If students don’t feel connected to the college they attend, they are far less likely to persist and succeed, regardless of the academic interventions and support services the college has provided. As the Aspen Institute notes, “A culture of caring has become a hallmark of excellent community colleges.”
The Institute for Evidence-Based Change (IEBC) has created
Caring Campus based on research that shows students who feel more connected to their college are more likely to be retained, persist from semester to semester, and complete their academic goals. Increasing connectedness, therefore, can go a long way toward increasing the likelihood of maintaining enrollment.
