The Promoting At-Promise Student Success Project (PASS) Project is a multi-year, mixed-methods research-practice partnership that advances evidence-based approaches to improving postsecondary success for at-promise students. Led by the USC Pullias Center for Higher Education in collaboration with the University of Nebraska system, PASS brings together researchers, educators, students and institutional leaders to identify the conditions that help students achieve academic, social and career success.

Due to the longitudinal nature and broad scope of the project, PASS has informed higher education scholarship over the past decade, including introducing the concept of ecological validation—a framework that emphasizes coordinated, proactive, holistic, asset-based support for students. PASS researchers have prioritized translating new knowledge into practical resources—including guidebooks, briefs, webinars and professional learning opportunities—to help colleges and universities create more supportive, student-centered campus cultures. By partnering closely with practitioners throughout the research process, the initiative ensures its work is immediately applicable to institutional policy and practice.

To learn more and access the full library of videos, reports, and briefs:

Perez, R. J., Hypolite, L. I., Bettencourt, G. M., & Hallett, R. E. (2025). How the game is played: Low-income students’ experiences with career development programming. Journal of Postsecondary Student Success, 4(3), 56-81.

Kitchen, J. A. (2023). Rethinking traditional approaches to major and career development: The major and career ecology model. Academic Leader.

Kitchen, J. A., Kezar, A., & Hypolite, L. I. (2023). At-promise college student major and career self-efficacy ecology model. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 16(3), 369.

Kitchen, J. A. (2021). Promoting college students’ major and career self-efficacy through validating support. Journal of College Student Development. 62(4), 422-437.

Kezar, A., Hypolite, L., & Kitchen, J. A. (2020). Career self-efficacy: A mixed-methods study of an underexplored research area for first-generation, low-income, and underrepresented college students in a comprehensive college transition program. American Behavioral Scientist, 64(3), 298-324.

Kitchen, J. A., Kezar, A., & Hypolite, L. I. (2021). More than a pathway: Creating a major and career ecology that promotes the success of low-income, first-generation, and racially minoritized students. About Campus, 25(6), 4-12.

Perez, R. J., Bettencourt, G. M., Hypolite, L. I., & Hallett, R. E. (2023). The tensions of teaching low-income students to perform professionalism. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education. Online First. 10.1037/dhe0000455.

Hypolite, L. I., Kitchen, J. A., & Kezar, A. (2022). Developing major and career self-efficacy among at-promise students: The role of a comprehensive college transition program. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice, 26(4), 1028-1052.