ABSTRACT
The existing help-seeking literature has a number of implications for a broad range of academic support services that can serve to inform both assistance providers and students. This chapter examines that literature with the objective of identifying strategies and research-based insights that can serve to increase the likelihood that college students will take advantage of the institutional sources increasingly available to them. An essential step toward that objective is for educators to understand factors that influence the likelihood and type of student help seeking, as well as how those factors can be used to design effective support programs that minimize the person and situation obstacles that may exist. To provide a broader perspective, we begin with a brief overview of academic support programs in the United States, discussing commonalities and shared goals in relation to student help seeking. The next section offers reasons why college students need help. We then discuss obstacles to students’ use of support services, drawing on research from the achievement motivation literature, followed by a list of implications and best practices for support programs. Finally, we offer di-
rections for future research based on an academic support program model at the University of Michigan.
