Guided Pathways for 4-Year Institutions

Led by the University of Florida’s Institute of Higher Education (IHE), APLU has collaborated with a team of researchers and institutional stakeholders from West Virginia University, Howard University, and Appalachian State University in a collaborative project designed to facilitate student success through the use of guided pathways as an evidence-based framework.

The project focuses specifically on providing data-driven recommendations regarding how to transform institutional practices by incorporating the guided pathways framework at access-oriented four-year institutions. APLU’s focus in the project has been to develop a guided pathways model for access-oriented four-year institutions of higher education. The model was developed through in-depth interviews with higher education leaders and practitioners and case studies of evidence-based strategies and processes currently implemented access-oriented four-year institutions.

Research Products

• Guided Pathways Model at Access-Oriented 4-Year Institutions: A Student-Centered Approach to College Access and Success
  Intended to engage postsecondary leaders and practitioners seeking to adopt strategies and catalyze institutional transformation, this model is organized around students’ experiences and their access into and success within 4-year institutions through cross-campus and cross-community collaborations to active and sustain student success.
• Guided Pathways Model Narrative Description
  A guide for understanding and using the model, this narrative provides the theoretical underpinnings and value assumptions embedded in the model.
• Embedded Case Studies
  Eight case studies are embedded with hyperlinks within the model above. These case studies provide a deep-dive for practitioners and leaders into the strategies, processes, partners, and intermediary interventions that institutions might use in developing their own guided pathways.