Illinois Postsecondary Wraparound Supports Initiative

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When students pursue a postsecondary education, the goal is not simply to enroll—it is to persist and complete a degree or credential. Students need more than just academic support to succeed in college, yet institutional systems and structures are not always designed to provide the coordinated supports necessary for completion. As a result, many students leave college without earning a credential, a challenge that is especially acute for those furthest from opportunity.

Research shows that college completion depends on more than academic preparation alone. Students are more likely to complete degrees and credentials when institutions provide coordinated wraparound supports that respond to students’ academic, financial, and basic needs; acknowledge the demands students are balancing; and build on the strengths that students bring to their postsecondary education.
 

About the Initiative

The Illinois Postsecondary Wraparound Supports Initiative is a Chicago- and Lake County-focused effort that is designed to support institutions in strengthening wraparound supports that promote student persistence and degree completion. The initiative seeks to improve access to and completion of postsecondary credentials for students furthest from opportunity including first-generation students, students from low-income backgrounds, and students of color. 
 

Initiative Aims

The Illinois Postsecondary Wraparound Supports Initiative is focused on strengthening wraparound supports as a critical strategy for advancing student persistence and completion. The initiative aims to: 

• Learn from existing wraparound support efforts across institutions and systems;
• Elevate promising practices grounded in research, evaluation findings, and local experience;
• Build local communities of practice focused on wraparound supports;
• Address barriers to student persistence and completion—such as financial insecurity, unmet basic needs, fragmented supports or advising, and complex institutional structures—through evidence-based, collaborative approaches;
• Strengthen the design, delivery, and accessibility of wraparound supports; and
• Center student voices to inform priorities, learning, and continuous improvement. 

Institutions play a central role in advancing student completion. This initiative centers evidence, local context, and comprehensive approaches, while positioning institutions to shape and strengthen their own systems of support.

Drawing on AIR’s long-standing experience with conducting research, evaluation, and technical assistance across education and human services systems, the initiative supports institutions' current wraparound support practices, learning from peers, and applying evidence-informed strategies in their local contexts.
 

Learning Together and Building Toward What's Next

The initiative includes three interconnected phases that reflect a commitment to quality implementation, continuous improvement, and shared learning across institutions.

Phase 1: Building a Shared Foundation

This phase focuses on creating a shared understanding of existing wraparound supports by systematically mapping current practices across postsecondary institutions in Chicago and Lake County. This phase emphasizes learning from institutional experience and identifying patterns, gaps, and promising approaches.

Phase 2: Strengthening and Scaling What Works

Through a grant opportunity, this phase supports institutions in strengthening, expanding, or assessing existing wraparound supports, or in piloting a promising wraparound support. Participating institutions engage in a professional learning community that supports the identification and development of evidence on promising wraparound supports.

Phase 3: Sustaining Collaboration

This phase strengthens long-term connections through an ongoing community of practice that supports continued learning among postsecondary leaders in Chicago and Lake County. This phase emphasizes sustainability, shared accountability, and the use of evidence to inform future practice.

Each phase builds on the last, with institutions playing a central role in shaping the initiative’s direction and priorities, and in defining how wraparound supports can be strengthened to better support student persistence and completion at scale.