Lower-income and minority college students often have trouble sticking with higher education. But past studies have indicated they would be less likely to drop out of school if they receive appropriate counseling once they start experiencing academic problems. A new study published in PNAS demonstrates that if students receive this kind of intervention prior to college enrollment and during their first year at college, they are more likely to avoid having academic trouble in the first place. And the counseling can be done over the Internet.

The counseling involves letting students know that it is common for students to struggle with the transition to college and that this transition will get easier with time. This is known as a “lay theory intervention.”

The researchers conducted three double-blind randomized experiments to test the effects of Internet-based interventions for students who come from socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Students in experimental groups received one of the following: an intervention focused on developing their confidence; an intervention focused on developing their feelings of social belonging in college; or an intervention that included both of these.

The growth-mindset intervention presented students with the idea that most skills can be developed through dedication and hard work. In contrast to this, the social belonging intervention attempted to show participants that all kinds of students struggle with the transition to college, not just disadvantaged students. Controls did not receive any intervention.

Participants came from a wide range of educational settings, including high school seniors exiting high-performing charter schools and first year students at colleges with a wide range of selectivity. All of the students were academically prepared for college—this was an important control measure, because variability in college preparedness would have biased the results.

The first experiment tracked high school seniors graduating from high-performing urban charter schools who were admitted to a wide variety of private and public colleges and universities. Those who received the lay theory intervention focused on social belonging were significantly more likely to remain enrolled full time during their first year of college. That was true compared to either students who were assigned to the control condition or students who only received a growth-mindset intervention.

The second experiment focused on incoming first year students at a high-quality, four-year public university. This study found no effects of the interventions on students from socially and economically advantaged backgrounds. However, the data did show that disadvantaged students who received any intervention (growth-mindset, social belonging, or both) were significantly more likely to remain enrolled in college full time.

Experiment three looked at incoming students at a selective private university. The outcome parameter for this experiment was not full-time enrollment, since less than one percent of students at this university fail to enroll full time; instead the researchers looked at first year GPA as a proxy for academic success. The data from this experiment showed that disadvantaged students who received any of the interventions (growth-mindset, social belonging, or both) had significantly higher first-year GPAs than disadvantaged students who did not receive an intervention. There was no intervention effect for other students.

The data from these three experiments demonstrates that interventions improve student outcomes by as much as forty percent, either in terms of first year GPA or continued full-time enrollment. Educational attainment is one of the best predictors of upward mobility, so an inequality in education due to economic disadvantage can perpetuate problems across generations. If colleges and universities are able to help students from these backgrounds stay in school and find more academic success, then those students are more likely to break the cycle of poverty for themselves and their families. Early interventions (rather than waiting until after students are already struggling), especially those centered on social belonging, appear to be particularly effective.

PNAS, 2016. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1518786113 (About DOIs).