The Student Support Gap: What the Research Says and What Institutions Can Do

By Mia Lamont, Center for Evidence-Based Mentoring at UMass Boston

There is a troubling paradox at the heart of higher education: Those who benefit from institutional support the most during the transition to college—first-generation students and students at Minority-Serving Institutions—are the ones institutions are least equipped to serve. In fact, 40% of first-generation students nationally contemplate dropping out in comparison to 25% of the general student population (Hanson, 2024). These numbers point to a major flaw in how we design student support systems, stemming directly from how we study the challenges meant to inform them.

Part of the problem is upstream. Much of the research done on student challenges is survey-based and majority-centered, capturing general patterns while overlooking the specific experiences of underrepresented students. This means supports are often designed around the wrong picture of student need before they ever reach an institution. So our team at The Center for Evidence-Based Mentoring at UMass Boston asked students at a Predominantly White Institution and a Minority-Serving Institution to tell us directly, in their own words: What are the major stressors or challenges you have faced this academic year?

What Students Actually Need

Academic challenges dominated in frequency, appearing in nearly 25% of student responses. But frequency alone doesn’t tell us what students found the most urgent to address or emotionally taxing to endure. Financial challenges were ranked the top priority, while mental health burdens were rated the most severe. These are the hardships that typically go unnoticed and therefore unaddressed. By the time they surface, students have often already withdrawn or failed out (Sallie Mae Bank & Ipsos, 2024). When you’re occupied with managing financial instability or a mental health crisis, investing in academics or professional development is not a realistic ask.

Furthermore, financial challenges were especially stark among first-generation students and those at the MSI, who reported them significantly more often than their continuing-generation and PWI peers (Werntz et al. under review). This is not incidental, as students managing the cost of tuition, basic living expenses, working 20+ hours a week, and navigating the hidden curriculum have less bandwidth for everything else, including academics, career exploration, and seeking help. You cannot think about your future when you cannot afford the present. 

Three Ways Institutions Can Respond

One way to support students financially is through short-term relief in the form of emergency grants or small stipends, meant for those who encounter unexpected expenses threatening their ability to stay enrolled. Proactive outreach is also critical in this situation. Text message nudges on financial aid deadlines and available resources have demonstrated effectiveness in keeping students on track, particularly among those who are unaware that support exists or unsure how to access it (Castleman & Page, 2015). But while helpful in the immediate term, long-term success requires investing in social capital. Rather than simply handing students resources, institutions should aim to build students’ capacity to navigate the systems around them, teaching them how to identify supportive networks, who to ask for help, and what to ask for (Schwartz et al., 2018). Embedding social capital building into first-year seminars and orientations ensures every student arrives with that foundation, not just those who already know where to look.

Mental health support faces a similar challenge of scale. Counseling centers cannot meet the volume of need, particularly at under-resourced institutions (Abelson et al., 2022). Digital mental health interventions (DHMIs) offer a scalable complement, and research shows they are most effective when paired with human support such as check-ins from a mentor or advisor (Werntz et al., 2023). MentorPRO, an evidence-based mentoring platform developed by Dr. Jean Rhodes, Professor of Psychology and Director of the Center for Evidence-Based Mentoring at UMass Boston, operates on this principle by connecting students to trained mentors alongside digital tools for goal-setting and mental health check-ins. The goal is not to replace human connection but to extend its reach.

The Missing Step

When a higher-ed practitioner once asked me how these support initiatives were actually delivered to students, I paused. We have the evidence base. We have proposed initiatives to foster student success, particularly for those who need it most. But the bridge that connects these initiatives to the institutions responsible for carrying them out is missing steps. Communicating findings to mentoring program managers or student success coaches is a starting point, but it is not sufficient enough for systemic change. For institutions to genuinely adopt these measures, they need more than awareness, but infrastructure: designated implementation staff, systems that address student needs proactively, and leadership that commits to prioritizing equitable student success.

It is also worth acknowledging what our study did not ask. We identified what students struggled with, but we did not ask how they would want to be supported. This matters because designing supports around assumed needs, even evidence-informed ones, still risks missing the mark. A meaningful next step would be returning to students with specific proposed initiatives and asking directly: would this help you, and would you use it? 

Students told us exactly what they need. Money keeps them enrolled, mental health support keeps them functional, and mentors help them navigate. The evidence is there. The task for institutions now is to stop guessing, start listening, and tailor the infrastructure to act on what students have made clear.

Note: The manuscript for the study referenced in this piece is currently under review for publication. 

Werntz, A., Hareli, M., Jasman, M., Juarez, A., Lamont, M., Cherry, J., & Rhodes, J. (manuscript under review). The transition to college: Understanding challenges through a student-centered lens.