Overview

Online learning has become a dominant force in higher education, with over half of college students taking at least one online course—peaking at 75 percent during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the State University of New York (SUNY), one of the country’s largest university systems, a significant portion of these students are supported by the SUNY Online program, an initiative that focuses on increasing access to and continued enrollment in postsecondary education, particularly for adult learners, by supporting individual campus efforts for online students. Until 2023, success coordinators and coaches supported students as part of the SUNY Online Degrees at Scale initiative administered by the SUNY System Administration in 25 programs across seven campuses, including community colleges. In 2023, SUNY shifted to a decentralized and institutionally administered approach to providing support to online students.

The transition to institutionally organized and implemented practices offered an opportunity to explore how coaching relates to students' learning and academic success in online programs across different campuses and types of students. In collaboration with the SUNY administration, MDRC conducted an initial evaluation of the implementation of these coaching support programs across three institutions (State University of New York Plattsburgh, Alfred State College, and Finger Lakes Community College). The study team conducted interviews and focus groups with students, program staff members, and other stakeholders, and administered a student survey.