Behavioral Science for College Access & Success

Posted by Heckscher Foundation for Children on July 2, 2018

By Peter Sloane, Chairman and CEO, Heckscher Foundation for Children

Over the past decade, behavioral scientists working in postsecondary education have developed a wide range of innovative interventions that hold the promise to improve student outcomes. On the surface, they can seem simple and easy to implement—a reminder about a financial aid deadline, a prompt for students to plan which courses to take in the coming semester, or student testimonials about their college experiences—but subtle shifts in the tone, timing, and framing of these messages can make the difference between an approach that helps students achieve their college dreams and one that is ineffective or even backfires. Behavioral interventions have also never been captured in one place in a way that makes them easy to understand or implement, creating a degree of inaccessibility that has impeded their adoption despite evidence that they work.

Enter Nudges, Norms, and New Solutions, an exciting new project our foundation funded and helped to develop in collaboration with the Nudge4 Solutions Lab at the University of Virginia and ideas42. Nudges, Norms, and New Solutions is a free resource for educators that brings together 13 cost-effective and evidence-based behavioral science interventions to help get students to and through college. The interventions address three major challenges — access to college, college life and academics, and student finances — with concise information on what the interventions are, what they can do for students, and how to carry them out. In addition to a free 96-page online Guide, a free Nudge Hotline staffed by behavioral science experts is available to provide educators with one-on-one support as they figure out the best way to successfully implement these interventions in their settings.

Read more on NCAN’s blog.
http://www.collegeaccess.org/BlogItem?dg=e4d6ef6e97424f24aa04a2dda85b4cbc

Full guide: https://nudge4.ideas42.org/