What happens when financial support is paired with intentional community, mentorship, and a clear path to success? In this episode, we explore St. Francis College’s Robert J. McGuire Scholarship Program and its holistic approach to supporting first-generation students. From substantial tuition assistance to peer mentorship, career preparation, and a personalized co-curricular roadmap, discover how investing in the whole student can transform opportunity into belonging, success, and lifelong impact.

What if a relatively small financial intervention could keep a student enrolled and on track to graduate? In this episode, we explore the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s innovative retention grants program, which helps students clear financial holds and register for the next term before a temporary setback becomes a reason to stop out. With more than 3,500 students supported and an average persistence/graduation rate of 82%, this is a powerful story of how targeted financial support can turn a financial hold into a pathway forward.

What if the students who aren’t making it back to campus are the ones we should be studying most closely? In this episode, we explore how Idaho State University used a “survivorship bias” lens, institutional data, and a strategic restructuring of academic advising to better support students during their critical first semester. Discover how earlier connections, intentional advising, and data-informed interventions helped ISU increase first-semester academic success and boost first-time student retention.