Colleges and Universities

Institutions of higher education (IHEs) are enriching environments for students to learn, connect with peers from diverse backgrounds, and develop knowledge and skills that will serve them for the rest of their lives. Campus environments, including those in which students learn, study, live, and socialize, can also present unique challenges for helping to ensure student health and safety. Adult-aged students living away from their families and community networks rely on professors, faculty, administrators, and staff, who have also been affected by the pandemic, to serve as their campus support systems.

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In response to the pandemic, colleges and universities rapidly formed and implemented plans of action to keep students, professors, faculty, staff, and surrounding campus communities safe. This included making difficult decisions about transitions to virtual learning, restricting campus life and activities, and remaining flexible to accommodate the unique needs of their students and provide supports where needed. Now, as IHEs work to support their communities in recovering from the impacts of the pandemic, they must continue to provide emotional safety and mental health supports for students and staff, ensure the provision of equitable access to higher education, and maintain safety procedures to protect all individuals on campus.

The resources on this page share guidance for supporting students; maintaining safe and healthy environments; and ensuring teacher, faculty, and staff well-being, professional development, and supports that are specific to colleges and universities. IHEs, professors, faculty, staff, other providers of postsecondary education, and States may use these best practices and lessons learned to inform their strategies for responding to students’, professors’, faculty’s, and staff’s needs throughout the pandemic recovery process.

Using Data Effectively to Drive Equitable Improvements in Postsecondary Student Success: A Playbook

This resource highlights evidence-based practices that higher education leaders can use to leverage data to improve equitable student outcomes. Strategies include building capacity for and a culture of data-driven improvement, using the most insightful metrics available, conducting targeted analyses, and promoting ongoing continuous improvement to remove barriers to student success.

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Strategies for Increasing Diversity and Opportunity in Higher Education

This report shares strategies that institutions can adopt to promote greater access to educational opportunities for underserved students. Insights are shared from leading community colleges, regional colleges, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities, and Minority Serving Institutions.

Submit Your Lessons Learned and Best Practices

Have a lessons learned or best practice for helping colleges and universities recover from the pandemic? Visit the Best Practices Submission page to view details on submission requirements, and then e-mail bestpracticesclearinghouse@seiservices.com to share your lessons learned or best practice.

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Have feedback to share on a resource accessed on the Clearinghouse site? We want to hear from you. Select the button below to share your feedback with the U.S. Department of Education and the Clearinghouse team.

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Creating a Culture of Caring: Practical Approaches for College and University Faculty to Support Student Wellbeing and Mental Health

Learn from current research on mental health challenges that postsecondary students face and the role of campus faculty in implementing evidence-based strategies that support student mental health and well-being.

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Office of Early Childhood Development: An Office of the Administration for Children & Families — Examples of State & Local ECE Workforce Recruitment & Retention Strategies

This page provides State and local examples of strategies to recruit and retain the early childhood education workforce, including use of relief funds to support efforts.

Submit Your Lessons Learned and Best Practices

Have a lessons learned or best practice for helping colleges and universities recover from the pandemic? Visit the Best Practices Submission page to view details on submission requirements, and then e-mail bestpracticesclearinghouse@seiservices.com to share your lessons learned or best practice.

Provide Feedback

Have feedback to share on a resource accessed on the Clearinghouse site? We want to hear from you. Select the button below to share your feedback with the U.S. Department of Education and the Clearinghouse team.

View Resources