Higher persistence at every school we've evaluated.
In all 17 evaluations with persistence data, across 15 colleges and universities, students who used CircleIn persisted at higher rates than students who didn't. Community colleges, HBCUs, public research universities and a 72,000-user college system all show the same pattern.
Users persisted at higher rates, every time
Persistence lift for CircleIn users compared with non-users at the same school, in percentage points.
Higher pass rates in the courses where faculty build it in
Pass-rate lift for CircleIn users compared with non-users, in percentage points. Where a school's adoption concentrated in harder courses, we compare students within the same course.
Public university, Texas
College Algebra, Statistics and Physics, Spring 2026
Community college, online gateway courses
12 high-DFW online courses across 90 sections, Spring 2026
Community college, Northeast
Radiologic Technology and Respiratory Care, Spring 2026
Community college, Southeast
Math, Biology, English and Chemistry, Spring 2026
Community college, Southwest
13 courses including Anatomy and Physiology II and Intermediate Algebra, Spring 2026
Public research university, Mountain West
General and introductory Chemistry, Spring 2026
Public university, Midwest
Within course, top courses, Spring 2026
Community college, Northeast
23 courses across 13 departments, Spring 2026
Community college, Midwest
Sitewide, engaged sections, Spring 2026
Public university, Upper Midwest
Sitewide, within course, Spring 2026
Public university, Upper Midwest
12+ courses in science, math and social science, Fall 2025
Large Florida college system
College-wide across 72,415 users, Fall 2025
At two schools, pass rates were roughly flat overall while persistence still rose. Persistence is the result that holds at every school.
What a persistence lift is worth
Every student who returns is a year of tuition retained. Adjust the inputs for your college.
Illustrative estimate. The default lift is the median across CircleIn's evaluations; results at any one school vary.
Measured the way your institutional research office would
- Each evaluation compares CircleIn users with non-users at the same school, in the same term
- When adoption concentrates in harder courses, we compare students within the same course so course mix doesn't distort the result
- Results are shown as the difference in percentage points
- Evaluations use grade and enrollment data from the partner school
These are comparisons between students who used CircleIn and students who didn't. The consistency across 15 different schools is what makes the pattern meaningful.
Peer learning works
Uri Treisman's work showed collaborative study groups dramatically improve outcomes in gateway math, especially for students from underrepresented groups.
Study groups predict engagement
Richard Light's Harvard Assessment Seminars found studying in small groups was among the strongest predictors of student engagement.
Access is the gap
George Kuh's research on high-impact practices shows the students who benefit most participate least. CircleIn puts every student in the group automatically.
How the University of South Carolina used CircleIn in gateway courses
Calculus, Accounting and Organic Chemistry, documented by the Provost's Office.