Using Collaborative Field Education to Provide Better Outcomes for Students at Risk of Leaving Higher Education

Abstract

ABSTRACT Certain student populations including youth formerly in foster care, first-generation college students, those with mental illness and substance abuse issues, and racial and ethnic minority students, face persistent challenges to their pursuit of college education, contributing to low graduation rates compared to their peers. This article details one university’s pilot program using social work practicum placements in multiple departments providing direct interventions with vulnerable students to increase retention and graduation rates with a focus on identifying barriers to success and connecting students to supports. Efforts were interprofessional, incorporating student support services, and social and emotional support. Placement in academic support services provided an interprofessional practice setting to intervene with students at risk of leaving college and continue to shape ongoing interventions. Implications for collaborative field education are explored, with the aim of describing the program’s successful interventions with vulnerable students and how they provided social work practicum students with crucial interprofessional settings to practice and refine their social work skills.