Access Isn’t Enough: Why Colleges Must Invest in Student Support

As a first-generation college student from rural Mississippi, higher education was my path forward. What I did not expect was how much staying on that path depended on the support systems around me. At the University of Chicago, these systems exist, but at too many other institutions, they remain underfunded or not accessible. This reality has pushed me to think about how these systems can be funded and made accessible for students like me everywhere. 

College students today are dealing with far more than coursework. More than 60 percent met the criteria for at least one mental health condition in the past year¹. Around one in three students experiences food insecurity². The National Center for Education Statistics reports that 43 percent of undergraduates work while enrolled, many of them full-time³. And with ongoing federal uncertainty around Pell Grants and student loans, financial instability has become a semester-by-semester reality for millions of students. 

These challenges directly impact whether students persist or leave. In 2024, The Hope Center for Student Basic Needs surveyed over 74,000 students across 91 schools and found that 79 percent of students who had dropped out of college or were considering it cited basic needs insecurity or financial reasons as the cause⁴. Separately, 57 percent of students who had previously dropped out reported that mental health issues were a factor⁵. The pressures students carry into the classroom show up directly in whether they stay at the institution. 

Student support programs such as counseling services, academic advising, writing centers, food pantries, emergency aid funds, and peer mentorship are the institutional infrastructures built to meet the needs of students and help them thrive. First-generation students, who make up roughly 56 percent of college enrollees nationally, often arrive without knowledge that other students inherit by coincidence of birth and income: how to navigate financial aid, approach faculty, or access professional opportunities⁶. Advisors and mentors fill that gap by translating these hidden curricula into something more legible. In my experience, my advisors made the difference between me guessing my way through class selections and career opportunities or planning out my future, as I now have a 5-year plan for after graduation with their help. Studies consistently show that students who meet regularly with an academic advisor are more likely to persist and graduate, with one study finding a 13 percent increase in retention among first-generation students who received structured advising support⁷. In practice, that means more students staying enrolled from semester to semester, fewer stopping out due to feeling overwhelmed with unclear pathways, and a greater likelihood of crossing the finish line to a degree.

A student’s sense of belonging is equally important in relation to their academic outcomes. Students who feel connected to their campus community have higher GPAs, higher retention rates, and lower rates of mental health crisis⁸. Cultural centers and identity-based organizations are a direct mechanism for this, particularly for students of color, who report higher rates of social isolation at predominantly white institutions. In these spaces, connection reshapes how students experience the inevitable pressures of college. Academic setbacks, moments of doubt, or financial strain are less likely to register as signs that a student does not belong and are more likely to be understood as part of a shared, navigable process. That shift often determines whether a student leans into support systems or begins to disengage, making the importance of students feeling like they belong at the institution tangible and encouraging them to persevere. 

When these programs are cut, the repercussions show up in enrollment data. Western Illinois University eliminated 57 faculty and 32 staff positions in 2024 amid a $22 million budget deficit, including advisors and academic support staff⁹. WIU's enrollment had already dropped 21 percent since 2019. Nationally, the cost of student attrition is estimated at $16.5 billion annually in lost tuition revenue across institutions¹⁰. Institutions that cut support programs to close budget gaps often accelerate the enrollment decline, pushing those gaps in the first place. For instance, as advising networks and support services become harder to access, students are more likely to drop out or transfer. This erodes tuition revenue and can damage institutional reputation, making future recruitment more difficult. In turn, declining enrollment prompts further cuts, often to the very programs that help retain students, and each reduction makes recovery more difficult than the last. 

Well-resourced universities demonstrate a different model. At UChicago, we are lucky to have long-term counselors, a robust advising network, cultural houses, and emergency funds that reflect sustained institutional investment. But most students are not at institutions with adequate funding and resources. They are at regional public universities and community colleges where support staff is already stretched thin. Those are also the institutions serving the highest concentrations of first-generation, low-income, and working students, the students who have the most to gain from an adequate education. Difficult funding decisions at those institutions determine the life outlooks for every student who enrolls.  

What I have come to understand is that sustainability is a key measure of opportunity. For students like me, getting to college is only the first threshold; staying requires a support system that operates behind the scenes. Support programs sit at the core of the academic mission as they make it possible for students like me to navigate the constant mental health challenges and unfamiliar institutional terrain that comes with college. When institutions invest in these systems, they strengthen retention and affirm that students belong. Without that commitment and investments, higher education becomes less a pathway forward and more a revolving door, where students with potential are admitted but rarely complete. 

Tayshawn Singleton is currently a sophomore at the University of Chicago and a 2025-2026 Advance Illinois intern.

¹American College Health Association. (2025). National College Health Assessment
²U.S. Government Accountability Office. (2024). Food insecurity among college students.
³National Center for Education Statistics. (2024). Undergraduate enrollment and employment statistics
⁴Hope Center for Student Basic Needs. (2024). 2023–2024 Student Basic Needs Survey Report.
⁵ Hope Center for Student Basic Needs. (2024). 2023–2024 Student Basic Needs Survey Report.
⁶NASPA: Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education. (2019). First-generation college students: Demographic characteristics and postsecondary enrollment.
⁷Swecker, H. K., Fifolt, M., & Searby, L. (2013). Academic advising and first-generation college students: A quantitative study on student retention. NACADA Journal
⁸ Strayhorn, T. L. (2012). College students' sense of belonging: A key to educational success for all students.
⁹Higher Ed Dive. (2024, August 12). Western Illinois University to cut nearly 90 faculty and staff roles.
¹⁰Mary Ziskin, Vasti Torres, Don Hossler, and Jacob Gross (2019), "Mobile Students in Liquid Institutions: An Examination of Highly Mobile Students in Post-Secondary Education”