Report on the Implementation, Costs, and Impacts of the Findhelp Platform in the North Carolina Community College System

Abstract

This report describes the implementation of the Findhelp resource in four North Carolina community colleges in 2021 and 2022. Findhelp is an online tool to connect individuals to resources in their communities to help meet their basic nonacademic needs. The North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS), with support from the John M. Belk Endowment, contracted with the RAND Corporation to track the implementation and student usage of Findhelp, estimate its impacts on student success, and understand the cost-effectiveness of using the program to increase student retention. Experts from RAND prepared this independent report to inform the use of Findhelp and design of student support services in North Carolina. Partners at the NCCCS provided RAND with deidentified student data for the analysis, and study partners at five North Carolina community colleges shared information about their experiences and study costs with RAND. RAND Education and LaborThis study was undertaken by RAND Education and Labor, a division of the RAND Corporation that conducts research on early childhood through postsecondary education programs, workforce development, and programs and policies affecting workers, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy and decisionmaking. This study was sponsored by the John M. Belk Endowment, which seeks to empower today's workforce by creating pathways to and through postsecondary education for underrepresented students.More information about RAND can be found at www.rand.org. Questions about this report should be directed to