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The growing cost of college is one of the most significant barriers to completion. However, research shows that frequent, intensive advising, combined with financial and other support, can make a tremendous difference in helping students complete. For two years, TICAS has worked with a group of rigorously evaluated organizations across the country that provide these comprehensive approaches to student success, or CASS, by connecting students with counselors and advisors to foster personal relationships and building a customized suite of support. Along with research partners MDRC and the Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities (LEO), TICAS convened these groups to better understand what it would take to reach all students who could benefit from these programs throughout the country. With this community of practice, TICAS created a research agenda identifying the research questions most pressing to answer at this moment in time and a framework for equity in the use of data.

A college degree remains critical to unlocking opportunity and to accessing America's middle class, yet millions of students who pursue higher education never earn degrees. At community colleges, which disproportionately serve low-income students and students of color, only a third of students earn a two-year degree within three years. At four-year universities, only half of low-income students graduate within six years. The rising costs of college are one factor. These include not only tuition, but also transportation, textbooks, housing, and food, which together often exceed tuition. Academics are another factor. Two-thirds of entering freshmen in community colleges are identified as academically underprepared and are required to take remedial courses that do not count toward a degree. Most never graduate. These students face other barriers too, including balancing work and family, lack of information, lack of social and family resources to navigate college, and institutional policies and practices that create obstacles -- all of which have been exacerbated by COVID-19. This memo draws lessons and policy implications from two decades of rigorous research in postsecondary institutions focused on these problems. The students who participated in this research were primarily low-income students and many were students of color. All of the studies referenced here used randomized controlled trials, the highest standard of evidence recognized by the U.S Department of Education and the scientific research community. Despite the barriers that many students face, the findings discussed here demonstrate the growing and impressive evidence base on what can be done to help low-income students and students of color succeed in college.