Higher Education

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higher education

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  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

Areas to Explore

Stay Informed

NCSSLE releases a bi-monthly Higher Education e-Digest. Each e-Digest includes resources from the U.S. Department of Education (ED), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and partner agencies, examples of effective field practice, new NCSSLE resources, and relevant learning opportunities.

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Featured Resources

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Provides guidance about educational institutions’ legal obligations with respect to digital accessibility and information that can help everyone learn how to make digital content more accessible to all.

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Discusses Frequently Asked Questions on disability discrimination.

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Explains the rights and responsibilities of students with disabilities who are preparing to attend postsecondary schools, and the obligations of a postsecondary school to provide academic adjustments, including auxiliary aids and services. 

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Presents statistics on students with disabilities by demographic.

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Estimates the impacts of initially enrolling in an Historically Black College and University (HBCU) on educational, economic, and financial outcomes.

Indiana College Substance Use Survey

The Indiana College Substance Use Survey has been serving Indiana institutions of higher education since 2009. Funded by the Indiana Division of Mental Health and Addiction (DMHA), the survey collects data on the prevalence of substance use and other risk behaviors among Indiana college students.

The Impacts of College-in-Prison Participation on Safety and Employment in New York State: An Analysis of College Students Funded by the Criminal Justice Investment Initiative

This study is a midterm evaluation report of the College-inPrison Reentry Initiative (CIP), a program to expand access to academic college education in prison throughout NewYork State. CIP is funded by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Criminal Justice Investment Initiative (CJII), a strategic plan for reinvesting $250 million in criminal asset forfeiture into programs that promote public safety. 

Supporting Reentry Programs: A Guide for Program Officers

As a higher education program officer without a background in the criminal justice or justice reform spaces, I have faced a steep learning curve as the Trellis Foundation expands our work in prison education programs and re-entry education supports.

Pell Grants Return for the Incarcerated, but Applying Remains a Challenge

Prison education has long been a part of America’s culture. For the better part of the 20th century, formal education programs played an important role in efforts to rehabilitate incarcerated individuals. Yet paying higher-education fees has always presented challenges.

Chronicle of Higher Education with Ascendium Education Group

Pell Grant eligibility has been reopened to incarcerated individuals, allowing them better access to quality education and pathways to improved prospects post-release.  

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Describes six key areas related to student mental health,  and it offers higher education leaders insights and guidance on how to best support the higher education ecosystem and the nation as we work to address the complex issue of student mental health.

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Presents data on youth mental health and suicide, outlining the extent of the problem, investigating contributing factors, and proposing effective, evidence-based action to reduce suicide risk for teens and young adults.

School Shooting

Provides an update on campus activity especially following a shooting incident on August 28, 2023.

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Helps colleges and universities ensure that their students, faculty, and campus communities are welcoming, supportive, and attuned to the unique experiences of students of color on their campus.

Policing on Campus

Tackles the institutionalization of policing in higher education campus safety and management. 

Cover image of A Guide to Campus Mental Health Action Planning resource

Guide campuses through a step-by-step process for designing a plan to promote the mental health of all students and get help for students who are stressed, struggling, or distressed. A list of references and resources planners can consult for additional assistance is included at the end of the guide.

Cover page of the The Talent Blind Spot: The Case for Increasing Community College Transfer to High Graduation Rate Institutions resource

Offers a path forward based on the work of several institutions that have demonstrated that creating robust community college transfer success is possible through strong, leadership-drive partnerships, early outreach and advising, and dedicated, holistic supports. The report helps readers understand the community college transfer landscape at high graduation rate colleges with data from the report.

Cover page of Several of Secretary DeVos' Rethink Higher Education Regulations Take Effect as Department Issues New Rule to Protect Religious Liberty, Reform TEACH Grant Program resource

Highlights several new regulations based on U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos' Rethink Higher Education agenda. In addition, includes rules forged by historic consensus negotiated rulemaking on accreditation and state authorization reform. 

Cover image of the Safe Place: Trauma-Sensitive Practices for Health Centers Serving Students resource

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. 

Cover image of the Presidential Engagement of Students at Minority Serving Institutions resource

explores the ways that presidents engage with students, using traditional means as well as social media. As the United States becomes more heavily entrenched in social media as a form of open expression and communication, presidents have been tasked with using the various platforms to better engage with their students. The report addresses two questions: 1) What does past research say about college presidents and the engagement of students? and 2) How do presidents of Minority Serving Institutions engage students?

Cover image of the NCSSLE Higher Education Products

Compiles all NCSSLE-developed products related to higher education. These products include webinars, case studies, and prevention updates. They provide evidence-based approaches and best practices to successfully address campus prevention issues and implement strategies that improve student success.

Cover page of ICAC/iKeepSafe Incident Response Tool for Schools resource

Teaches how to help prevent and address technology related incidents by building a cooperative relationship with schools. This free resource helps schools with the steps of incident management, such as fact-finding, documentation, reporting and engaging the appropriate school officials and other stakeholders. Through collaboration with law enforcement and the use of this tool, schools can plan and prepare an effective and appropriate response to all types of technology related incidents, including cyberbullying, sexting, hacking, and threats of violence.                            

Cover image of the Guide to Assessing Basic Needs Insecurity in Higher Education resource

Describes how to perform two types of studies: (1) surveys to assess basic needs security; and (2) opportunistic small scale experiments to evaluate the effectiveness of programs meant to address basic needs security. Drawing on experiences conducting research on basic needs security at colleges around the nation, the team at the Wisconsin HOPE Lab produced this guide to support colleges' and universities' own efforts. Guidance is also provided for evaluations of programs developed to support needs security. 

Cover image of the Coronavirus Hits Campus resource

Compiles articles on coronavirus as they related to higher education. The advent of the novel coronavirus, which causes a disease known as Covid-19, has affected a host of campus issues, including foreign study and travel by students and faculty members, international-student enrollments, campus health, and whether to hold mass events such as conferences, sporting events, and commencements. This page includes links to The Chronicle’s key coverage of how this worldwide crisis affected college campuses.

Cover image of the College Completion Toolkit resource

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.

Cover image of the Addressing Basic Needs Security in Higher Education: An Introduction to Three Evaluations of Supports for Food and Housing at Community Colleges resource

Evaluates three new promising approaches to addressing food and housing insecurity. All three programs were developed by community colleges and their partners based on their local needs, resources, and opportunities. 

American Institutes for Research

U.S. Department of Education

The contents of the National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments Web site were assembled under contracts from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Safe and Supportive Schools to the American Institutes for Research (AIR), Contract Number  91990021A0020.

This Web site is operated and maintained by AIR. The contents of this Web site do not necessarily represent the policy or views of the U.S. Department of Education nor do they imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education.

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