November 24, 2025, Durham, NC – Recently published research reported that the Connected Scholars program has significant positive impacts on college student retention and graduation rates.

Connected Scholars teaches high school and college students how to build social capital, expand their social networks, and develop mentoring relationships that can help them reach their academic and life goals. The program helps students proactively seek out mentoring relationships and practice their networking skills, so they can thrive academically and socially. These skills may be particularly important for students of color and first-generation college students, who often have fewer connections to mentors and less access to diverse networks than other students. iRT President Dr. Janis Kupersmidt developed the teacher training workshop and materials.

Findings from the recent study, conducted at a large, public university serving urban, minority students, show that students who took the Connected Scholars program were significantly more likely to graduate within four to six years compared to their peers. Findings from this study were recently published in the American Journal of Community Psychology.

To learn more about the Connected Scholars program and how you can implement it in your school, visit https://connectedscholarsprogram.com/.

 

Hersch, E., Werntz, A., Schwartz, S. E. O., Raposa, E. B., Hughes, J., Parnes, M. F., & Rhodes, J. (2025). Testing the effects of a social capital intervention on college student retention and academic success. American Journal of Community Psychology, 10.1002/ajcp.70027. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.70027