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Ana Minter, Director of Customer Success, Single Stop
More than half of U.S. college students face basic needs insecurity. Retaining them can translate into meaningful revenue and stronger student outcomes.
Higher education leaders are facing a familiar but intensifying challenge: how to retain students amid rising financial need, the looming enrollment cliff, and constrained budgets. For many institutions, the question isn’t whether to invest in retention but how to do it effectively.
One key factor is often overlooked: the barrier to persistence isn’t always academic, it’s life.
According to the Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice, over 50% of U.S. college students experience basic needs insecurity, including challenges with food, housing, transportation, and childcare. These everyday pressures are now among the top reasons students stop out, especially those living at or near the federal poverty line.
Small Improvements, Big Financial Impact
Single Stop is a benefits access platform that helps colleges connect students to life-changing support services like SNAP, Medicaid, housing assistance, and local resources through one simple, integrated platform.
Even with modest assumptions, the return on investment is real.
If a college helps just 10% of its low-income students stay enrolled through targeted support, that adds up to millions of dollars in retained revenue each year.
That could mean stabilizing budgets, maintaining staffing, or reinvesting in student success initiatives, while also improving retention metrics and equity outcomes.
Southern New Hampshire University Sets the Example
Forward-thinking institutions are already acting on this insight.
At Southern New Hampshire University, supporting students’ basic needs is viewed as a strategic imperative. During a statewide convening on student wellbeing, SNHU President Lisa Marsh Ryerson captured it plainly:
“Every student deserves the opportunity to succeed, and that begins with ensuring they have what they need to survive and thrive.”
SNHU has backed this philosophy with action through emergency grants for housing, food, transportation, and other urgent needs. And they’ve measured the outcomes: students who received basic needs support were up to 15.5% more likely to remain enrolled than peers who didn’t. Today, SNHU works with Single Stop to ensure all students have access to basic needs eligibility and local resources.
This kind of leadership reinforces what more institutions are beginning to realize: meeting basic needs isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s a retention strategy with measurable ROI.
From Support to Strategy
Single Stop brings this approach to scale. Our platform equips institutions to:
It’s simple for students, actionable for staff, and valuable for institutions.
Whether you serve 2,000 or 200,000 students, even a small shift in retention among your most vulnerable learners can result in measurable financial and mission-driven returns.
Let’s Talk
If 10% of at-risk students stay in school because they get the support they need, what would that mean for your institution?
Single Stop is ready to help you support your students—and protect your bottom line.
Contact us to learn how we can partner with your team.
