The Cost of Poverty Experience: College Edition
A high-impact experience to help deepen your understanding of the complexities that students face living in poverty.
For Colleges and Universities
Students experiencing poverty are significantly less likely to be retained from year to year and to graduate, even when they start college at similar academic levels as their higher‑income peers.
As college tuition continues to rise, more students than ever are struggling to meet basic needs while pursuing their education. The Cost of Poverty Experience: College Edition is a powerful 2.5-hour immersive simulation that brings to life the real challenges faced by nontraditional and under-resourced students navigating poverty. Participants step into the lived realities of these students, gaining eye-opening insight into the barriers that affect persistence, academic performance, and overall well-being.
This transformative experience equips faculty, staff, and campus leaders with the understanding needed to design more responsive programs, policies, and supports—driving higher retention and completion rates. COPE also reveals the vital role of the broader community, illustrating how institutional systems and public policies can either create pathways to success or reinforce obstacles. Developed in partnership with Sinclair Community College, COPE: College Edition empowers campuses to build more equitable environments where all students have the opportunity to thrive.
COPE is an experience that will help your team:
Design smarter programs that boost student success, retention, and completion
Foster more impactful, inclusive interactions across campus
Create stronger, trust-based relationships with nontraditional and under-resourced students
“The College Edition of the COPE training engaged participants in the “lived poverty experience” discussion of individuals in our community. We were made aware that this experience is not limited to one isolated group. Participation in the relationship-based approach of COPE has enriched the interactions among faculty, staff and students. The outcome of this training is a unified endeavor to create social change across the college. Ongoing collaborative efforts to support students and fellow employees include the cost free food pantry, coat and clothing closet, health care clinic, and job placement services (to name a few).”
Want to know more about our College COPE?
An Experience For Everyone.
The Cost of Poverty Experience has been adapted to reflect the experience of poverty in various contexts. Please click on one of the sectors below that best describes the organization that you are affiliated with to find out how COPE can help you have greater impact.