Access to high-impact practices in student-athletes: Barriers, supports and best practices

Access to and participation in high-impact practices (HIPs) has been shown to have positive benefits for student success. Student-athletes are a cohort that have lower rates of participation across HIPs especially in opportunities that typically occur outside the traditional classroom and where time and scheduling become significant constraints: undergraduate research; global learning; internships; service learning; and learning communities. Faculty athletic representatives, athletic advisors, and department chairs from institutions across one Division I athletic conference were asked about barriers to access and participation to these HIPs for student-athletes as well as strategies their campus have implemented. Across the 5 HIPs, time and season of sport were identified as the main barriers to participation. Several institutions have implemented targeted advising supports to educate and align messaging about these opportunities for student-athletes. The implication is to provide institutions with strategies to improve access and participation to HIPs for student-athlete cohorts in their context.