New Study Shows How Colleges Are Finally Getting Student Support Right
A new report from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities documents a major shift in how colleges think about student success (Shanks, 2026). The report, which analyzed completion strategies at 90 public universities across 41 states, shows that institutions have moved away from reactive crisis intervention toward proactive, integrated support systems. According to Levi Shanks, assistant vice president for academic and student affairs at APLU and author of the report, this represents a growing recognition that waiting for students to be in crisis is costly, inefficient, and often too late. The emphasis now is on early identification, personalized outreach, and reducing barriers before students disengage.
Several approaches emerged across institutions. These included data-informed advising, structured degree pathways, coordinated campus systems, removal of financial barriers, and holistic student wellness services (Shanks, 2026). Institutions also developed targeted strategies for transfer students, adult learners, and students who stop out. One notable example is Wayne State University’s Warrior Way Back program, which forgives outstanding balances of $4,000 or less for former students, making it easier for them to return and complete their degrees. The growing use of early alert systems and data dashboards allows institutions to identify struggling students within the first six weeks and deploy customized support at the moment it is needed, rather than relying on students to navigate websites or brochures on their own.
Shanks emphasized that the proliferation of wellness services following the COVID-19 pandemic, including new wellness centers, peer mentorship programs, and expanded telehealth-based clinical services, did not necessarily translate into student awareness or usage (Shanks, 2026). The best re-engagement strategies do not come from adding more programs but from clear messaging about what is already available and how students can access it. Institutions learned that students often know they have a problem but do not know what kind of problem it is or where to turn. Making it easy and reducing barriers to getting help became a priority. What were once niche programs addressing issues on the margins of campus are now integrated, systemic, and institutionalized within universities.
This shift toward proactive, personalized, and integrated support aligns directly with the design principles behind MentorPRO. Our platform uses early alert data and AI-supported matching to connect students with peer mentors at the moments when support is most needed, not after disengagement has already set in. MentorPRO does not add another disconnected layer of programming. Instead, it integrates mentoring into the existing student experience, making peer support accessible, timely, and responsive to individual needs. By embedding mentorship into campus infrastructure and pairing it with real-time data, we help institutions move from reactive service models to the kind of proactive, student-centered approach that the APLU report describes as the future of student success.
References
Shanks, L. (2026, May 14). How colleges are rethinking student success. Inside Higher Ed.
