Key points:
- Institutions that implement equitable access programs are helping students overcome those barriers
- Equitable access programs can boost retention and student success
“There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.” –Niccolo Machiavell
Course completion and student success percentages are significantly increased at higher education institutions that have introduced Equitable Access (EA) programs, especially two-year institutions. The establishment of an EA program means every student will have the same opportunity and tools needed for success. The unique financial challenges faced by every student act as barriers to student success and retention.
Institutions that implement EA programs are designing systems to overcome those barriers. EA is about improving course materials access, improving course completion and success rates, creating individualized paths to personalized learning, facilitating student success, and designing retention and graduation
strategies.
If you’re not familiar with equitable access, it’s a tuition and fees billing model that
charges a flat-rate fee per credit hour or per term. EA is considered an institutional charge paid by all students under Title IV financial aid regulations. Charged at the time of student registration, it can provide students with all required physical and digital course materials, all required course supplies, perhaps food to focus on learning, fuel to get to class, housing, technology to access learning, and many other resources that facilitate equity between students.
Course materials models
The new order of things is EA, which is creating a paradigm shift in institutional thinking about course materials. We need to question the long-held belief that the cost of course materials is the barrier to student success. Data from Three Rivers College (TRC) and new research shows that not providing 100 percent access through an EA model, and student opt-out of an EA model, is a greater barrier to student success than the cost of course materials.
Robert Jansen is director of retail operations at Three Rivers College, Poplar Bluff, Mo. He has worked for more than 25 years at institutions serving higher education, including five college stores (both public and private) and four institutions (both two-year and four-year) in three states. He has a B.A. in philosophy and an MBA from Southern Illinois University.
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