Cognitive Complexity and Degree Planning: Student Perceptions of and Needs From Technology Tools

Colleges around the country have adopted technology tools to simplify planning and registration processes and provide interventions to support students’ timely completion. However, there is little evidence of these tools’ efficacy in improving student progression and completion (c.f., Rossman et al., 2021; Velasco et al., 2020). The minimal impact of advising and planning technologies on student success is amplified among institutions supporting the students who make up the new majority of postsecondary learners—those who are Black, Latine, Indigenous, and/or low-income (BLI/LI). One possible reason for this is that such tools were not designed with the needs of this population in mind. Using process map and focus group data from students at two broad-access universities, coupled with interview data from institutional stakeholders, this study interrogates the ways that BLI/LI students engage in academic planning. We find that this process is more cognitively complex and nuanced than is typically acknowledged; program planning tools do not include the information BLI/LI students require; and low-income college students are particularly disadvantaged by these tools. As such, we find support for the hypothesis that current tools’ efficacy is muted because they do not center the needs of BLI/LI students in their design.