Resources
Everything in one place.
Original research, documented campus outcomes, and practical guidance — written for the people accountable for retention, engagement, and student success.
Research
The State of Higher Ed series
Our annual survey of students, graduates, recruiters, and administrators on the gaps between what campuses teach and what employers expect. Every edition is ungated.
State of Higher Ed 2026: The Experience, Skills & AI Gaps
Students believe they are ready for the workforce. Their schools are less sure. Employers are the least convinced of all — and three measurable gaps explain why.
State of Higher Ed 2026 in brief: every key figure on one page
The fast read: the 84% / 65% / 37% preparedness divide, the experience, skills and AI gaps, and five moves the data supports — in about four minutes.
State of Higher Ed 2025: Addressing the Soft Skills Gap
Employers want problem-solving; only 51.5% of undergraduates rank it critical — a 36.8-point gap that students close themselves, years too late. 3,790 respondents on career preparedness, teamwork, communication, and the internships almost no one gets.
Guides
The Administrator's Guide
What it takes to bring a leadership program to your campus: the launch process, the advisor time commitment, what's included, and how to build the internal case.
Download the Administrator’s Guide
Email-gated PDF. Phase 2: HubSpot form, then redirect to the noindexed thank-you page.
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- name, work email, institution, role
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By topic
Start where your problem is
Student retention
Co-curricular impact on persistence, first-year retention, and how to measure it.
Student engagement
Reaching the students your staff never see — belonging, involvement, and commuter and online populations.
Career readiness
What employers actually ask for, how to define it, and how to build it into a program.
Campus leadership programs
Building versus buying, curriculum requirements, and staffing without new headcount.
Measuring outcomes
Co-curricular assessment, high-impact practices, and reporting to leadership and accreditors.
Case studies
What this looks like on a real campus
Documented outcomes, the approach behind them, and what the advisors say.
Webinars
Sessions for administrators
The NSLS Learning Center hosts recorded sessions on student success, engagement, retention, and career readiness — including panels with campus practitioners.
Public summaries of these sessions are in progress, so the material is readable without registering.
Want to talk through what this would look like on your campus? Book a 20-minute walkthrough.