National Study of Student Support Services :
Third Year Longitudinal Study Results
Analysis and Highlights

The Student Support Services (SSS) program focuses on improving college retention and graduation rates of disadvantaged college students. It provides participants with a range of academic and non-academic supplemental services, that include tutoring, academic, career and personal counseling, remedial assistance, and cultural enrichment activities. Initially funded in 1971, Student Support Services is the second largest (in terms of funding) of the federal TRIO programs, all of which share the objective of helping disadvantaged students achieve success at the postsecondary level.

There are currently over 700 SSS projects serving 165,000 college students. The program is targeted to serve students who are from low income families, students with disabilities, or where neither parent has graduated from college. In 1994, 57 percent of the grants went to 4 year colleges and 43 percent went to two year institutions. Annual per student expenditures are about $860.

Upward Bound projects offer extensive academic instruction as well as counseling, mentoring and other support services. Students meet throughout the school year and generally participate in an intensive residential summer program that last from five to eight weeks. Most students--about 90 percent -- enter Upward Bound while in 9th or 10th grade, and some remain with the program through 12th grade. Upward Bound projects are generally operated by two or four-year colleges. The annual average cost per participant is about $3,600.

Evaluation Objectives and Methods

The two main questions addressed in this evaluation are:

• What are the characteristics of SSS participants, projects and institutions? What services do students receive, and where do these projects fit within the larger framework of campus wide-support services and efforts to improve student performance? This set of issues was largely addressed in previous reports; in this volume, many of the key findings have been updated with more recent data.

• What is the impact of SSS on students' educational outcomes? Do some approaches work better than others?

Impact findings are based upon a longitudinal survey of 5800 students attending 47 institutions; half of the students participated in SSS as freshmen, and half constituted a matched comparison group. The study began with a baseline student survey conducted in 1991-92 along with collection of detailed records on services received by SSS participants. Case studies were conducted in each of the sites. A 3-year follow-up student survey was completed (85 percent response rate) and college transcripts were collected (95 percent response rate).

Estimates of program impact are based on a statistical comparison of the academic performance (college retention, grade point average, and number of credits earned) of SSS participants and non-participants. Because there are wide variation among SSS participants, the analysis also considered impacts associated with different amounts and types of assistance received by students.

Findings.

• SSS services are well-targeted to serve disadvantaged students.

  Compared to other students at the same institutions, SSS students were much more likely to be economically disadvantaged, minority, and have poor academic preparation for college.

• SSS provides supplemental services beyond those typically available to students at the institution.

  During their freshman year, SSS participants report using more total services (both SSS and non-SSS provided) -- especially tutoring-- than those in the comparison group. This difference in service use largely disappeared by the third year.

• SSS participants receive diverse types and moderate levels of service.

  Projects offer different packages of services and even within a single institution students participate in many different ways. The two most frequently received services are professional counseling (80 percent of students) and peer tutoring (50 percent). Almost 30 percent participate in instructional courses sponsored by SSS and an equal number attend workshops. About 10 percent participate in a specific cultural event sponsored by SSS.
  

  Counting all SSS services received, about 9 percent of students had only one service contact during their freshman year, 20 percent received 2-5 contacts, and another 17 percent had 6-10 contacts. About 25 percent had 11-25 service contacts, and 30 percent had more than 25 service contacts.

• Enrollment levels after three years

  In the third year after the study participants were freshmen, about 58 percent of students who began at 2-year institutions were enrolled at the college at which they started or some other college. About 78 percent of those who began at a 4 year institution and about 83 percent who began at a doctoral institutional were enrolled at some college. Overall, about one-fourth had transferred to a different college from the one at which they originally enrolled.

• SSS has a positive and statistically significant effect on three separate student outcomes--grades, credits earned and retention. The effects, although not large, usually persist over three years.

  Students' GPA were increased by a mean of 0.15 in the first year, 0.11 in the second year, and 0.11 in the first three years combined. The number of credits earned was increased by a mean of 1.25 in first year, 0.79 in the second year, 0.71 in the third year, and 2.25 in the first three years combined.

  Retention at the same institution to the second year was increased by 7 percent, and by 9 percent for retention to the third year. Retention to the third year at any higher education institution was increased by 3 percent.

• Outcomes varied according to the students' level of participation in SSS. Students who participated the most experienced the greatest improvement in outcomes.

  Each 10.8 hours of peer tutoring was associated with a 0.1 percent increase in first year GPA; each 2.6 hours of peer tutoring was associated with a 1 percent increase in retention to the second year at the same institution.

• Peer tutoring, cultural events, workshops and instructional courses for SSS participants stood out as being particularly effective.

  Peer tutoring showed positive and statistically significant effects for each student outcome (grades, credits and retention) over three years. Participation in cultural events was associated with increased GPA in the first year and increased credits earned in all three years. SSS workshops had a positive effect on credits earned during the first year and retention to the second and third years at the same college. Instructional courses exclusively for SSS participants were associated with increased retention to the second and third years at the same institution.

• Certain ways of organizing SSS programs were related to student outcomes. Home-based programs (which offered a center on campus serving a range of student needs) and blended programs that integrated SSS and other services, stood out as most successful.

  Programs that integrated SSS and non-SS services had increased rates of retention at both the same institution and at any institution. Programs that provided a home-base on campus that served the "whole student" were associated with increased GPAs in the first and second years and in the 3-year cumulative GPA.

Conclusions.

Results in this report describe the effects of Student Support Services on key educational outcomes for a 3 year period beginning when students were college freshmen. Subsequent data collection will assess the longer term effects of this program on college completion. The findings to date indicate that the program has a positive and statistically significant impact upon students grades, credits earned and college retention, but that the effects are limited by the modest exposure of many participants to key services.

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Executive Summary
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