Students attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) were more likely to succeed when they received academic coaching, according to a report from InsideTrack, a national student success coaching nonprofit. The report, “Empowering Student Momentum at HBCUs,” found that a five-year coaching initiative across 39 HBCUs helped stopped-out students reenroll at 2.5 times the national average while keeping actively enrolled students on track with an 83.8 percent fall-to-spring retention rate.
According to the report, thousands of students not only reenrolled but also persisted and completed their degrees through one-on-one success coaching delivered as part of the multi-campus partnerships.
“Effective partnership with HBCUs starts with respect for the history, culture and leadership already present on each campus,” said Henri A. LaSane, Ed.D., associate vice president of HBCU programs at InsideTrack. “Our role was to add capacity in ways that strengthened, rather than replaced, those institutional relationships. These results show that this approach can help more students stay connected to the support, momentum and sense of belonging that keep completion within their reach.”
HBCUs make up just 3 percent of the nation’s colleges and universities yet produce nearly 20 percent of all Black graduates. In recent years, these institutions have experienced a surge in interest and philanthropic support, with many reporting increased applications and, in some cases, record enrollment.
Among students who received outreach from a coach, 1,343 stopped-out students returned to school, and more than 2,300 have since graduated, according to outcomes verified through the National Student Clearinghouse. Participating institutions also recovered an estimated $26.9 million in retained and recovered tuition revenue.
The multi-year coaching initiative focused much of its outreach on students often overlooked by traditional retention efforts, including adult learners, who made up nearly 40 percent of the coached population, and Black male students, who accounted for about one-third. Among 13 public HBCUs, Black male students who met with a coach reenrolled at a rate of 15.1 percent—10.8 percentage points higher than peers from the same cohort who did not meet with a coach.
“HBCUs are powerful engines for social mobility. By supporting institutions with tools like reenrollment coaching from InsideTrack, we’ve helped more students enroll, persist and graduate,” said Jim Runcie, co-founder and CEO, Ed Advancement, one of InsideTrack’s partners for the coaching initiative. “As a result, more students are on a path to economic opportunity, and more institutions have built internal capacity to support reenrollment.”
