Unlocking Undergraduate Student Success: A Study of High-Impact Practices in a Comprehensive and Diverse College

Abstract

This study examines undergraduate senior students’ participation in high-impact practices (HIPs) and the relationship of that participation with engagement indicators, perceived gains, and overall satisfaction, as well as institutional outcomes of persistence and graduation based on race/ethnicity, first-generation status, and low-income status. Drawing on multiple years of data from 1,482 undergraduate seniors who completed the 2015 through 2019 National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) and enrolled in a comprehensive four-year state college, this study indicates that HIP participants reported higher levels of engagement, perceived gains, and overall satisfaction. Participation in HIPs is also positively related to improved persistence or graduation, particularly for racially minoritized students. While overall participation patterns were similar regardless of race/ethnicity or first-generation status, low-income students had higher participation rates in HIPs and participated in more kinds of HIPs as compared to their non-low-income counterparts. Implications of implementing and increasing access to HIPs for enhancing student success in similar institutions are discussed.

Keywords

• racially minoritized students
• high-impact practices
• student success
• National Survey of Student Engagement
• persistence
• graduation