Higher Education

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Higher education includes a wide range of institutions providing study beyond the level of secondary education, such as colleges and universities, community colleges, and vocational and technical schools. Higher education administrators, prevention coordinators, and community members play an important role in addressing risk factors and promoting safe and supportive environments to maximize opportunities for student success and academic achievement.

NCSSLE training and technical assistance activities and resources are based on evidence-based approaches that promote positive behaviors and norms and include:

environmental management through policy change
intervention and treatment programs for students experiencing problems
health promotion programs to support positive behaviors and student success

The following pages are organized by the five-step process of The Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF), which is based on findings from public health research along with evidence-based prevention programs to promote resilience and decrease risk factors in individual students and on campuses and in surrounding communities. Each step includes a number of resources to guide your efforts. Be sure to contact us for personalized assistance and guidance!

Featured Resources

¡Gradúate! A College Planning Guide to Success

Provides the Hispanic community with information and resources to help students navigate the process of pursuing higher education at traditional colleges and universities, including how to apply and how to successfully enroll in a college or university. The guide is organized to outline the steps that students should take throughout high school leading up to their first college class.

Safe Place: Trauma-Sensitive Practices for Health Centers Serving Students

Encompasses a broad range of material introducing and endorsing trauma-sensitive practice with an emphasis on sexual assault trauma. It is designed specifically for health center staff who serve as primary care providers to students in higher education. These tools are designed to supplement higher education efforts to develop campus-wide plans addressing sexual assault at their institutions.

National Center for Safe Supportive Learning Environments

Hunger on Campus: The Challenge of Food Insecurity for College Students

Further develops the knowledge base on food insecurity among college students. It draws on a survey of almost 3,800 students at 34 community and 4-year colleges across 12 states – the broadest sample to date. The authors find that 22 percent of respondents have the very lowest levels of food insecurity, and 13 percent of students at community colleges are homeless. These figures are strikingly similar to prior estimates, and help to confirm that far too many students today are struggling.

James Dubick, Brandon Mathews, & Clare Cady

College Completion Toolkit

Highlights promising practices from a dozen schools across the country that are doing the hard work of increasing college completion rates for students on their campuses. The report contains links to resources and stories written by institutions themselves and will serve as an additional resource for schools as they seek to promote student degree completion.

Beyond the Box Resource Guide

Provides information for colleges and universities to help remove barriers that can prevent citizens with criminal records from pursuing higher education, including considering the effect of inquiring early in the application process whether prospective students have ever been arrested. The guide also encourages alternatives to inquiring about criminal histories during college admissions and provides recommendations to support a holistic review of applicants.

Advancing Diversity and Inclusion in Higher Education

Presents key data that show the continuing educational inequities and opportunity gaps for students of color and low-income students and highlights promising practices that many colleges are taking to advance success for students of all backgrounds. Key findings of the report include:

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NCSSLE staff are available to help institutions of higher education and their surrounding communities to proactively strengthen their learning environments and address problems of violence and substance abuse.

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