Style Over Substance in Interventions for At-Risk Students: The Impact of Intrusiveness

Academic advisors charged with developing and implementing student success strategies should ask: To what extent is the process of intervention, rather than the nature of any specific intervention, responsible for an influx in at-risk student performance and persistence? Students in varying degrees of academic probation were randomly assigned to one of three intervention strategies that incorporated controlled content but divergent levels of intrusiveness. The most intrusive intervention resulted in higher cumulative grade-point averages and higher retention rates for all students. Students with the highest risk of academic dismissal were the most responsive to the most intrusive intervention.