Two colleges are implementing new tools designed to streamline enrollment and financial aid processes after researchers found that even small administrative challenges can derail students from completing their degrees.
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The interventions address persistent problems first-year students face navigating complex administrative processes—challenges that research shows can lead students to "delay enrollment, reduce their course load, or drop out altogether," the report states.
"Students benefit when these processes are clear, streamlined, and supported with timely guidance," according to the MDRC report authored by Emily Marano and Caitlin Anzelone.
The project developed five main interventions: one-page "journey maps" outlining enrollment and registration tasks; annotated financial aid offer letters; a social belonging exercise featuring authentic student stories; an academic planning guide for advising appointments; and redesigned notices about satisfactory academic progress requirements.
The tools emerged from extensive collaboration between researchers, college staff members, and student advisory panels—paid students who provided firsthand feedback on prototype materials.
One key finding: Students want more personalized support than many staff members have capacity to provide. In feedback sessions, students reported feeling "in limbo" without sufficient guidance, with one saying that navigating processes alone felt "terrifying."
