Innovation By Design | Intelligence Applied | Built for the Real World | New Blueprints | Rooted in Place
Meeting Students Where They Are: Innovative Models for Access, Support, and Success
Some of the most compelling innovation in higher education today isn’t in research labs or technology accelerators; it’s in the decisions institutions make about who gets to walk through the door, and what support awaits them once they arrive.
Five of this year’s Top Colleges for Innovation Award winners have developed programs that fundamentally reimagine college access and student success, drawing on everything from philanthropic partnerships to intergenerational housing to first-year research experiences.
Hudson County Community College (HCCC) in Jersey City, New Jersey serves one of the most economically and demographically diverse student populations in the country—and its forward-thinking reflects the complexity of that mission. The college’s Hudson Scholars Program, a Bellwether Award finalist and nationally recognized model for community college student success, combines proactive advisement, financial stipends, and early academic intervention with wraparound services addressing food insecurity, housing instability, mental health, emergency funding, and immigration assistance.
The results speak for themselves: two-year college completion rates have increased fivefold for traditionally underrepresented students, and fall-to-fall retention rates have improved by 37% for all Hudson Scholars participants. The program has supported a 70% reduction in historic equity and achievement gaps—and is financially self-sustaining, generating net revenue through the enrollment and retention improvements it produces. Now serving more than 5,000 students, Hudson Scholars is on track to scale to the entire HCCC student body within five years.
HCCC’s commitment to economic mobility extends beyond the classroom as well. The Gateway to Innovation (GTI) program, a Bellwether Award finalist and Innovation of the Year Award recipient from the League for Innovation in the Community College, addresses economic mobility for service industry workers by connecting them with recession-resistant career pathways.
Through a Bank of America grant, GTI built the Experiential Learning Opportunities Program, offering job shadowing, mentoring, and internships alongside wraparound services including transportation and childcare support. Thousands of students have earned industry-recognized credentials in finance, health care, IT, and logistics as a result.
Across the country in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Mount Mary University (MMU) has taken a uniquely holistic approach to student success—one that includes where students live.
In 2022, MMU partnered with the School Sisters of Notre Dame and Milwaukee Catholic Home to open Trinity Woods, a $45 million intergenerational living complex on the north side of campus. The complex includes 52 residences for the Sisters of Notre Dame, 24 dormitory units for single mothers enrolled as MMU students and their children under age 12, and 90 independent living apartments for individuals over age 62.
It is a national blueprint for addressing the housing and childcare barriers that prevent student-parents from completing their degrees. MMU has also developed the CulturaBot, a generative AI application created by occupational therapy faculty and students to train health care workers in providing culturally sensitive care. Using scientifically reliable resources, the app answers clinicians’ questions about delivering care that accounts for patients’ cultural backgrounds, an innovation with implications that extend well beyond the campus.
Meanwhile, the Thrive in 3 program—the first of its kind in Wisconsin—strategically redesigns degree pathways to 95 credits without sacrificing academic rigor, enabling students in fields like Cybersecurity, Digital Marketing, and Social Work to graduate a full year earlier and save significantly on tuition.
At Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, innovation takes the form of a structured institutional practice: a formal submission process through which faculty and staff propose new initiatives aligned with the college’s strategic plan. Ideas are evaluated for fit, cost, and expected results, sponsored by a cabinet member, and advanced through the Strategic Plan Implementation Council.
Progress is reported to the Innovation and Competitive Position Committee of the Board of Trustees, ensuring that innovation is tracked at the highest level of attention and governance.
One of the most transformative outcomes of this approach has been the Gerber Grand Challenge, a philanthropic initiative that engages students and faculty in addressing complex regional problems through interdisciplinary problem-solving.
Paired with a $40 million donor match program that has significantly expanded access to financial aid, Augustana is demonstrating how smart institutional design and philanthropic ambition can combine to make a private liberal arts education genuinely accessible. The college also deploys a behavioral intervention team—a proactive, coordinated effort to identify and support students who may be struggling before a crisis occurs.
For institutions serving rural communities and working families, the barriers to access often require solutions as specific as the populations they serve.
Coastal Bend College in rural southern Texas has built workforce models that redesign how education, training, and employment connect for exactly these students. Its partnership with Goodwill Industries of South Texas allows students to co-enroll across institutions, reducing barriers for adult learners.
The college’s Cougar to Jaguar articulation model smooths transfer pathways to four-year institutions, and its innovative credential model—translating employer-based training for Texas Department of Criminal Justice correctional officers into recognized postsecondary credentials—gives working adults a pathway to college credit they would not otherwise have.
At the other end of the institutional spectrum, the flagship University of Maryland, College Park demonstrates that access innovation is equally vital at large research universities.
FIRE, the First-Year Innovation & Research Experience, provides more than 600 incoming students each year with faculty-mentored research across 16 different streams, accelerating career readiness through authentic, open-ended scientific inquiry. FIRE gives first-year undergraduates research credentials and experiences typically reserved for upper-division classes or graduate study.
Complementing this is the SHIFT facilities portal—a 24/7 campus service hub that routes work orders more efficiently across five major operational units, improving transparency and response times for the entire campus community—reflecting UMD’s broader commitment to operational innovation in service of its people.
