Creating Opportunity for All: How success coaching opens doors and closes equity gaps

Focusing on equitable opportunity is an economic imperative

Words like “equity” and “diversity” are loaded in today’s political environment. But what do we actually mean when we say we want to fuel an equitable and diverse postsecondary landscape? We mean that we want ALL students to be included and have access to fair opportunities for success in higher education and the workforce. Giving every student access to opportunity is not about supporting some populations over others, but about opening doors for everyone to succeed. When that happens, we create space for stronger communities, accelerated innovation and collective prosperity. 

The value of diversity is not just a moral imperative — it’s an economic one, too. In a 2021 study by the Brookings Institution, researchers found that the U.S. economy has lost nearly $23 trillion in output since 1990 due to racial and ethnic disparities. What’s more, a recent article written by Lumina Foundation President and CEO Jamie Merisotis cited that organizations with diverse teams are twice as likely to meet or exceed financial goals and six times more likely to be innovative and agile. Simply put, when people from all backgrounds are included in the workforce, we all succeed. And ensuring that all students, especially students who have been historically marginalized, can access and succeed along postsecondary pathways is essential to getting there. 

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Coaching combines a proven methodology with personalized support to fuel student success for all

Offering the kind of customized support that can help any student succeed, coaching is a great equalizer: If all students have access to quality coaching, the students who are doing well will be recognized for their accomplishments and motivated to continue, and the students who are struggling will get the individual attention they need to address the challenges they’re facing. In other words, coaching is designed to help individuals overcome barriers and pursue opportunities, giving them the tools and resources they need to succeed when and how they need them.

So how, exactly, does InsideTrack Coaching offer all students the chance to succeed? Our evidence-based coaching approach is:

• Rooted in a holistic methodology: Coaching assesses student needs and opportunities across the full spectrum of their complex lives — diving into everything from finance and career goals to managing commitments and personal well-being
• Personalized via one-on-one sessions: Coaches apply proven coaching techniques to individual sessions with learners, allowing them to personalize the support and resources they provide
• Culturally responsive: Coaches are trained to provide affirming, inclusive support that allows them to build trust with learners and reaffirm that they belong at their institution and within higher education more broadly
• Trauma-informed and healing-centered: InsideTrack’s coaching methodology leverages research-confirmed frameworks rooted in healing-centered engagement, allowing coaches to navigate challenging conversations with care
• Focused on development of student agency: Coaching puts learners in the driver’s seat, empowering them to chart their own course for reaching their educational and career aspirations
• Integrated into institutional processes & systems: Coaches are not siloed from other institutional departments — instead, they act as a central hub, connecting students to resources like advising, tutoring, counseling, financial aid, affinity groups and more

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The impact of success coaching on historically underserved students 

Coaching can be particularly transformative for students who have traditionally been underserved by postsecondary institutions — including students of color, first-generation students and students from low-income backgrounds. These students often face compounded challenges, including financial stress, limited access to support networks, and unfamiliarity with  and/or distrust of academic systems. When they’re met where they are, without judgment or agenda, they realize they don’t have to face these challenges alone — and they’re better equipped to stay on track, persist through obstacles, and achieve long-term academic and career success. That’s what coaching does. 

See how three institutions across the country are integrating success coaching into their processes to better serve all students — and to close equity gaps for those who most need the support. 

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Three institutions that invested in success coaching to fuel opportunity and advancement for their students

1. The University of Utah boosted retention for all students – including those who are Pell-eligible, first-gen and students of color

At The University of Utah (the U) — a flagship public research university serving a diverse mix of students — leadership recognized the need to reimagine how students are supported. Determined to close equity gaps and improve first-year retention, they partnered with InsideTrack to adopt a scalable, evidence-based coaching approach across the institution. What began as a pilot program quickly evolved into a comprehensive coaching transformation: student success staff became certified coaches, departments aligned around a common support methodology, and campus-wide training helped create a unified, student-centered culture. With coaching introduced as early as new student orientation, the university ensured that all students — especially those least familiar with college systems — had access to personalized, empowering support from day one.

The results speak for themselves:

• +25.5% higher retention rate for coached students with a GPA under 2.5 (vs. their non-coached peers)
• +21.4% higher retention rate for coached Pell-eligible students 
• +8.7% higher retention rate for coached first-generation students 
• +8.5% higher retention rate for coached students of color 

While the overall retention rate increased for coached students (84%) compared to their non-coached peers (80%), the biggest coaching impact was felt by the student populations who needed the most support — closing equity gaps and creating a campus-wide “rising tide.”

2. Illinois Central College closed equity gaps in student retention through coach training

As a major provider of educational opportunity, Illinois Central College (ICC) fuels economic mobility for one in four graduating high school seniors in their region. ICC sought a partner to help them actualize a four-year initiative to increase retention through a holistic advising redesign. In the initial phase of their partnership with InsideTrack, 400 students — many of them part-time, African American, or developmentally placed — received one-on-one coaching designed to help them clarify goals, navigate challenges and persist in their studies.

The pilot outcomes were promising for ICC staff and leadership:

• +18% higher retention among all students who received coaching
• +33% retention increase among African American students
• +23% retention increase among part-time students
• +20% increase among developmentally placed students 

With the proven impact of success coaching in hand, ICC decided to train and certify their advising staff in InsideTrack’s methodology, offering students more proactive, holistic support — which resulted in 14.7% greater student satisfaction with ICC advising after the first year of the redesign. As noted by Dr. Kari Schimmel, ICC’s associate vice president for institutional effectiveness and innovation, the partnership empowered ICC to “develop and sustain student success coaching and transform the way we think about advising and student success.”

3. Onondaga Community College embedded coaching to improve academic performance across student populations

Onondaga Community College (OCC), a public community college serving more than 8,500 learners in central New York, set out to reimagine how it supports students — especially those who are navigating higher education as the first in their families, balancing financial strain, or facing systemic barriers to success. In partnership with InsideTrack, OCC embedded personalized success coaching into its advising programs to provide proactive, holistic support that meets students where they are. The coaching initiative focused on students from historically underserved backgrounds and was designed to help more learners persist through challenges, build self-efficacy and stay on the path to completion.

The impact has been powerful, as documented in a program outcomes study by OCC:

• Students who received at least one coaching session successfully completed the English gateway course at a rate of 54%, compared to 46% of non-coached students
• For students enrolled in first-year English composition courses, the fall-to-spring retention rate increased by 4 percentage points (from 72% to 76%) while the fall-to-fall retention rate grew by 6 percentage points (from 47% to 53%).
• Overall increase in credits earned from 14.7 to 15.8, with Black students going from 8.5 to 11.8 and first-generation students from 12.8 to 13.6

According to Dr. Warren Hilton, president of Onondaga Community College, “These results reflect our long-term commitment to removing barriers to college access, completion and upward mobility for students from underserved backgrounds by ensuring that students feel supported each step of the way.”

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Coaching isn’t just a student support strategy — it’s a catalyst for opportunity, belonging and long-term success

From community colleges and HBCUs to large public and private universities, institutions across the country are seeing the transformational power of coaching. That’s because coaching supports the whole student, no matter who they are — helping them navigate systems riddled with barriers, while equipping them with the tools to persist, complete and thrive. For students who have been historically underserved by higher education, this kind of personalized, affirming support can be life-changing.

As institutions strive to fulfill their promise of helping all students complete and continue on to prosperous career pathways, coaching offers a meaningful way to ensure that every learner is met with the support they need to succeed.