Supporting the Whole Community College Student - The Impact of Nudging for Basic Needs Security - October 2021

Oct 15, 2026

Evaluation examining how personalized “nudging” to an on-campus support hub affects community college students facing basic needs insecurity. The report targets students from low-income households and those in developmental education, where insufficient preparation and poverty-related gaps reduce completion. Partnership with Amarillo College’s Advocacy and Resource Center (ARC) tests low-cost technology-enabled outreach. Results show ARC visits rising from 22% to 56% and developmental education course pass rates improving, while clearer credit accumulation and grade gains are not established.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages31

Reading Time1 h 18 min

AccessFree to download

Executive Summary

Introduction

Basic needs insecurity and community college completion

The role of developmental education

Cost, housing, and food barriers

Data from The Hope Center and related research

Supporting the Whole Community College Student: The Impact of Nudging for Basic Needs Security Sara Goldrick-Rab, Kallie Clark, Christine Baker-Smith, and Collin Witherspoon October 2021 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Even after decades of improvement efforts, completion rates at community colleges remain low, particularly among students who need developmental education. Food and housing insecurity – referred to as basic needs insecurity – contribute to low completion rates. Community college students face higher rates of basic needs insecurity than other students. Yet basic needs insecurity often goes unaddressed, particularly at these colleges, due to resource constraints. Community colleges have started to support students’ basic needs in multiple ways. Campus-based hubs offering services like public benefits access, emergency aid, food pantries and case management have become increasingly popular. However, limited evidence exists on whether connecting with these hubs improves academic success. The Advocacy and Resource Center (ARC) at Amarillo College (AC) in Texas is a well-established example of how a college can care for its students. In 2018, The Hope Center published a detailed case study of the college’s approach to AC’s “culture of caring” embodied by the ARC.1 At the time, the ARC served 13% of Amarillo College students, well short of the estimated two-thirds who endured basic needs insecurity. This report details our partnership with the college to conduct an evaluation advancing two institutional goals: • Increase utilization of the ARC, particularly among students most at risk of leaving college, with a low-cost technology-enabled approach • Estimate the academic impacts of connecting students to the ARC We identified students who might benefit from the ARC: those from low-income households and those enrolled in developmental education coursework. Placement in developmental education signals insufficient K-12 preparation and/or gaps in enrollment, both of which are associated with poverty. We targeted personalized emails to a randomly selected group of these students informing them of and inviting them to the ARC for support. These emails had positive impacts on students at AC: • Rates of visiting the ARC more than doubled from 22% to 56% • Developmental education students were 20% more likely to pass developmental education courses, a crucial milestone However, we did not find clear evidence that nudged students completed more credits, received higher grades, or passed other courses at higher rates. While we saw promising trends regarding retention and graduation, they may be due to chance. As community colleges across the nation work to improve student success and help students recover from the pandemic, this evaluation offers two lessons: • Insufficient information about existing basic needs supports keeps students from getting the help they need. The information barrier may be effectively overcome with personalized nudging, a low-cost solution • Connecting students to basic needs supports helps students make academic progress, particularly those in need of developmental education 1 INTRODUCTION Improving academic success rates at American community colleges is a longstanding challenge and is particularly critical in a post-pandemic economy. Students from lower-income households, those from racially minoritized communities, and students with less robust academic preparation are especially likely to attend community college. Certificate and degree completion offer high economic and social returns.2 Yet, less than 40% of students entering community college complete a certificate or degree over the subsequent six years, leaving many with debt and little opportunity for social mobility or stability. 3 Developmental education poses a barrier to completion. Students must often complete and pay for noncredit bearing courses before becoming eligible for credit-bearing coursework.4 In fact, ma

FAQs

What is the core problem addressed by the evaluation?

Completion rates at community colleges remain low, especially for students in developmental education. Basic needs insecurity—food and housing insecurity—contributes to this problem and often goes unaddressed due to resource constraints.

How did the study “nudge” students toward support services?

Researchers identified students likely to benefit and sent personalized emails inviting them to Amarillo College’s Advocacy and Resource Center (ARC). The approach is low-cost and technology-enabled, aiming to improve utilization of existing supports.

What impacts did the nudging produce on students?

ARC visits more than doubled, increasing from 22% to 56%. Developmental education students were about 20% more likely to pass developmental education courses, but the report does not find clear evidence of larger gains in completed credits, higher grades, or passing other courses.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Sophia Brooks