The Finish Line project will use a behavioral diagnosis method, called the CABS Framework, to conduct a systematic analysis of the college experience — identifying contextual factors; institutional structures; staff, administrator, professor, and advisor attitudes; and personal barriers that may prevent students from earning a credential.

The project will focus on detecting key bottlenecks in three domains that research indicates and colleges believe may help students reach their goals:

1. Attempting more credits. A body of higher education research demonstrates that students who enroll full time are more likely to graduate, compared with students who enroll part time. Assuming that getting students to attempt more credits is beneficial, how we can reach this goal? This initiative will aim to increase the number of credits students attempt and earn each semester.

2. Maintaining satisfactory academic progress (SAP). Students who are placed on academic probation face difficulties that reach beyond losing access to financial aid. Being placed on probation can also have a negative psychological impact, creating obstacles that undermine students’ efforts to address their academic challenges. The goal of this initiative is to identify interventions that may help those who are at risk of SAP probation stay in college and ultimately complete their program of study.

3. A domain identified through behavioral diagnosis. A central mission of MDRC’s CABS Framework is to learn from and incorporate the perspectives of our partner organizations. Thus, we aim to highlight the colleges’ viewpoints on areas they identify as challenges for students, and to view those challenges through a behavioral lens. In other words, we enter this project open to the idea that an unforeseen third domain will be unearthed through the diagnosis process.