InsideTrack Coaching
Program basics
- Provides individualized coaching for students to address academic and nonacademic barriers to remaining in college through graduation
- Coaching provided through diverse media such as phone, video, email, text, and mobile apps
- Partners directly with the university in order to provide relevant course and resource information
Strength of evidence
Evidence level: Promising (Third-highest tier)
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Promising (Third-highest tier)
Ranked as having the second-highest level of evidence by Social Programs That Work
Target population
Students enrolled in post-secondary education
Program cost
Approximately $390 per student per semester
Implementation locations
- Nationwide
Dates active
2001-Present
Outcomes and impact
- No discernible effect on degree attainment
- Increased credit accumulation and persistence
Keys to successful implementation
- Note: This content is under review.
- Cast a wide net when recruiting participants, shifting away from a deficit-model mindset and towards a goal-setting method. Still, prioritize serving high-risk students first.
- Hire enough staff for initial one-on-one counseling sessions with participants. Initial personalization of services yields higher retention.
- Train coaches on other available institutional resources, allowing them to provide actionable guidance for students on everything from financial assistance to mental health services.
- Leverage coaches for feedback on the success of the program and the student experience – in addition to counseling, coaches can be deployed as gatherers of general information about what students face.
- Offer counselors peer training programs and information exchanges to help ensure a more uniform experience from both the coach and student perspective.
- Establish an ongoing quality assurance plan, including refresher courses and formalized feedback system for coaches.
- Encourage counselors to split their time equally across three different areas: academics, finances, and non-academic commitments.
