Strengthening Student Success with Non-Academic Supports: The Role of State Policy

This policy brief from the Working Poor Families Project highlights the importance of college completion for being successful in the American workforce. By 2020, 65% of jobs will require at least some form of postsecondary education; however, today, only 41% of adults have an associate degree or higher. The brief describes the need for policies to focus not only on academic supports, but on non-academic supports targeted toward low-income community college students, especially student parents and first-generation students. These populations are often faced with financial, developmental, or other non-academic barriers.