Well-Being

Well-being is integral to a student’s academic performance along with their overall success in postsecondary spaces. Many institutions have launched efforts to support well-being, underlining its value to student learning, persistence, and holistic development. However, challenges with well-being and mental health persist. This is particularly the case for at-promise students (students from low-income and/or historically or currently marginalized backgrounds) who often face additional systemic barriers—such as racism, classism—that further affect their well-being. The PASS research has been exploring student well-being, guided by four principles including: well-being as holistic, ecological, part of a spectrum, and changing over time.

Here, you’ll find resources for practitioners, campus leaders, and researchers looking to support at-promise student well-being in higher education settings.

Articles

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Complicating understandings of low-income students’ financial stress and well-being in order to inform institutional support.

Lauderdale, K., Todorova, R., & Corwin, Z. (2025).

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It was a good day? Time use and subjective well-being among lower-income college students.

Bowman, N. A., Irwin, L. N., & Katsumoto, S. (in press).

This article examines how lower-income college students spend their time and how these daily experiences affect their mental health and well-being. Using real-time data, the research identifies patterns in students’ positive and negative well-being and highlights differences based on race, gender, and first-generation status.
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A matter of time (use): Conceptualizing time navigation and time equity as directions for equitable research.

Bettencourt, G. M., Kezar, A., Hypolite, L. I., & Hallett, R. E. (2025)

The article challenges traditional views of time management in education by proposing a shift toward understanding time as a navigable resource shaped by structural and individual factors. It introduces the concept of "time navigation" and positions time-related research within a framework of time equity, aiming to provide a more inclusive and systemic perspective on how students, particularly those from marginalized backgrounds, experience and manage time in educational settings.
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The relationship between low-income college students’ time use and well-being: A mixed methods exploration.

Kitchen, J. A., Bowman, N., Todorova, R., Irwin, L. & Corwin, Z. B. (2024).

The article examines how first-year, low-income students allocate their time and the subsequent effects on their well-being. Using a mixed-methods approach, the study finds that structured routines and meaningful reflection positively influence well-being, while academic and work commitments, especially among first-generation students, can detract from it.
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Exploring compassion fatigue and community care in student affairs.

Perez, R. J., Bettencourt, G. M. (2023).

This study examines how working in student affairs programs serving at-promise students can contribute to compassion fatigue among staff. It highlights how a supportive culture of care and mentorship within the program helps buffer staff from stress, despite challenges related to workload, institutional positioning, and high staff turnover.
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Briefs

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Creating a context for at-promise students to thrive: Relating psychosocial and academic outcomes.

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Expanding understandings of well-being in higher education settings

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Understanding how time use in college shapes at-promise students’ well-being during the first-year transition

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