Experiential Learning Campuswide

The Future of Student Success: Strategic Engagement and Experiential Learning

Sarah Myksin

March 17, 2026

Colleges and universities are under growing pressure to demonstrate the value of a degree. Students and families want to know that their investment will translate into real-world readiness and professional success after graduation.

That shift is reshaping how institutions approach the student experience. Campuses are increasingly moving toward experiential education as a key part of the academic journey. The goal is no longer just to educate; it's to prepare.

That shift was the focus of a recent webinar I co-hosted with my colleague Aaron Mahl, PhD, on meaningful engagement and experiential education.

The good news is that many institutions are already offering powerful opportunities for direct, hands-on learning for students, through internships, research experiences, service learning, mentorship programs, and career advising.

But the challenge we hear consistently from campus leaders is that these opportunities are often difficult for students to find, unevenly distributed, or disconnected from the outcomes students and families care about most.

Meaningful engagement and experiential education help close that gap by connecting students to people, opportunities, and experiences that translate education into real-world direction. Let’s dig into that a bit more.

The Growing Value Gap in Higher Education

Colleges and universities have traditionally defined value through academic rigor, faculty quality, and strong curriculum. Reputation, research output, and institutional prestige have carried a lot of weight too — both in how schools' market themselves and how rankings have historically measured them.

But students and families tend to evaluate value very differently. They're focused on career readiness, practical experience, and whether that diploma will actually open doors after graduation. What the institution is proud of and what the student is paying for doesn't always line up — and that gap is widening. This difference creates what I often think of as a value gap.

Institutions may be delivering strong outcomes, but those outcomes are not always communicated in ways that resonate with students and families. Percentages alone rarely tell the full story.

Experiential learning helps bridge that gap. Internships, applied projects, research opportunities, and mentorship experiences allow students to build skills and confidence while making the connection between education and career more tangible.

When students can point to real experiences, the value of their education becomes clearer.

Opportunity Exists. Access Is the Real Challenge

Experiential learning opportunities exist on most campuses. But access to those opportunities is not always equal.

Internships and other high-impact experiences can depend on financial resources, geography, time flexibility, or personal networks. Students who must work during school or who lack professional connections may face barriers that make participation difficult.

Many institutions have worked hard to close this gap. Stipends, internship programs, and career services initiatives have helped expand access. But the challenge persists because opportunity alone is not enough.

What we’ve learned is that students need a clear path to discover and participate in these experiences. Infrastructure matters.

Institutional Structure Shapes Student Access

Does this sound familiar to you? Career services may coordinate internships. Faculty may lead research opportunities. Alumni offices may manage mentorship programs. Academic departments may offer field experiences.

The opportunities are scattered across different offices, and students may not experience them as part of a cohesive system.

Without coordination and visibility, students may not know where to start. Staff may not know what other teams are offering. Leadership may struggle to measure how many students are actually participating in meaningful experiences.

Structure matters.

Institutions that are making progress in this space are increasingly focused on connecting these opportunities through shared infrastructure, systems that bring together networks, experiences, and engagement in one place so students can access them more easily.

Experiential Learning Is Good. Add Meaningful Engagement and It's Transformative.

Experiential learning is powerful on its own, but it becomes even more impactful when combined with meaningful engagement.

Experiential education gives students the opportunity to do something meaningful in the real world. Engagement connects them to the people who help interpret those experiences and build on them.

That might look like alumni offering career insight, mentors helping students reflect on an internship, or employers providing guidance about industry pathways.

These connections help students develop confidence, perspective, and a clearer understanding of where their education can take them.

Alumni Networks Unlock Opportunity

One of the most powerful resources institutions already have is their alumni network.

Alumni represent the real-world outcomes of an institution. And, they are also a powerful source of mentorship, career insight, and professional opportunity for current students.

When alumni networks are activated intentionally, they help expand access to experiential learning. Students can connect with professionals in their fields of interest, learn from real career paths, and gain opportunities that might otherwise be difficult to access.

For institutions, alumni engagement also strengthens long-term relationships and reinforces the value of the campus community across the entire student-to-alumni lifecycle.

Fordham University’s Internship Promise

One of the examples I'm most proud to point to is the work PeopleGrove has done with Fordham University.

Fordham committed that every student will have access to at least one meaningful experiential learning opportunity before graduation. That includes internships, but also research, community-based learning, and other applied experiences.

What makes Fordham’s approach notable is not just the promise itself, but the systems supporting it. The university aligns leadership, campus collaboration, and technology to ensure students can discover opportunities, participate in them, and track those experiences over time.

That level of intentional design helps ensure experiential education reaches more students, not just those who happen to find the right opportunity.

The promise is the headline. The infrastructure is what makes it real.

When institutions connect people, opportunities, and outcomes in more intentional ways, they strengthen career readiness, expand access to opportunity, and help students see the real value of their education.

Turning Opportunity into Outcomes

And in today’s higher education environment, that clarity matters more than ever.

Interested in how institutions are connecting networks, experiential learning opportunities, and student engagement in one place? Speak with a PeopleGrove expert today.

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