The #RealCollege Curriculum

Now available: Basic Needs 101, an introductory course for faculty and staff.  Address the growing demand for student support by engaging your entire campus community. Sign up now to bring this support to your institution!

When we treat students like humans 

At least 4 million college students are struggling to learn and succeed because they lack sufficient food, safe housing, childcare options, transportation, access to healthcare and other unmet basic needs. These barriers can make it difficult for students to stay enrolled and engaged academically.

The #RealCollege Curriculum is making sure every professor, staff member, and administrator knows how they can help.

The #RealCollege Curriculum’s Values

Believe in Students

We start by trusting students as they are the experts in their lives and learning.

Supported People Support People

Faculty, staff, and administrators need help too. We support them to better support students.

Inclusive Pedagogies of Care

Our approach is responsive, inclusive, adaptive, challenging, and compassionate.

Teaching and Teachers Matter

Today’s professors are more essential than ever before and will not be replaced.

Bias Towards Action

It’s not enough to simply understand the issues at stake; we also need to take action and make real change at our schools.

Beyond the Classroom

While faculty are on the frontlines of supporting students, this work must also involve people and offices across our campuses.

“We need to design our pedagogical approaches for the students we have, not the students we wish we had. This requires approaches that are responsive, inclusive, adaptive, challenging, and compassionate. And it requires institutions find more creative ways to support teachers and prepare them for the work of teaching. This is not a theoretical exercise — it is a practical one.”

Sara Goldrick-Rab and Jesse Stommel,
Teaching the Students We Have Not the Students We Wish We Had

Interested in bringing the #RealCollege Curriculum to your campus? Sign up here!

The Basic Needs 101 Curriculum

Course One: The Students We Have

Course Two: The New Economics of College

Course Three: The Practice of Care in College

Bonus Course

Parenting Students

Sign up now to bring this support to your campus!

The People behind the Curriculum

Founded by National Experts

Drs. Sara Goldrick-Rab and Jesse Stommel translate learnings from their globally-renowned professional communities–#RealCollege Convenings and Digital Pedagogy Lab–in the Curriculum.

Powered by National Philanthropy

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, ECMC Foundation, Imaginable Futures, and Michelson 20MM provide the financial backing.

Led by an Experienced Nonprofit

Believe in Students, an organization with deep roots in education and student support oversees and administers our curriculum.

Featuring Acclaimed Educators

 The Curriculum benefits from the wisdom and support of many national leaders, including Drs. Keith Curry, Dhanfu Elston, Virginia Fraire, Paul LeBlanc, Jermaine Williams and other Advisory Board members.

Backed by Renowned Partners

Soledad O’Brien Productions and the American Federation of Teachers led critical support to enhance the Curriculum.

Basic Needs Support Helps Students Succeed

Source: Meal Vouchers Matter for Academic Attainment: A Community College Field Experiment

Students who received emergency grants were twice as likely to graduate during the pandemic.

Edquity Grantees Cross the Finish Line at Compton College

Encouraging students in non-credit courses to use basic needs centers improved their transition to college-credit courses.

Supporting the Whole Community College Student: The Impact of Nudging for Basic Needs Security

Providing students with housing support reduced hunger, improved their health, and improved labor force participation.

Homelessness and Housing Insecurity Among Community College Students: A Longitudinal Evaluation of a Housing Choice Voucher Program

 

Want to Know More?

In The News

To learn how the curriculum prepares faculty and staff to holistically support student needs, explore coverage in Inside Higher Ed and Diverse Issues in Higher Education.

Course Sneak Peek

To preview a portion of the introductory course, The Students We Have, check out the video below.

 

If you’d like to connect with us about bringing the #RealCollege Curriculum to your campus, contact us here.