High-Impact Practices

What Are High-Impact Practices? 

High-Impact Practices (HIPs) are teaching and learning experiences that consistently produce stronger student learning, engagement, persistence, and graduation outcomes when intentionally designed and implemented. They actively engage students in applying knowledge, solving authentic problems, collaborating with others, receiving meaningful feedback, and reflecting on their learning. 

The Association of American Colleges & Universities (AAC&U) identifies the following as established High-Impact Practices: 

  • Capstone Courses & Projects  
  • Collaborative Assignments & Projects  
  • Common Intellectual Experiences  
  • Diversity/Global Learning  
  • ePortfolios  
  • First-Year Seminars & Experiences  
  • Internships  
  • Learning Communities  
  • Service Learning / Community-Based Learning  
  • Undergraduate Research  
  • Writing-Intensive Courses  

Research also supports additional educational experiences that share the defining characteristics of High-Impact Practices. At UNT Dallas, well-designed educational simulations have been adopted as an additional High-Impact Practice for program planning purposes. As research continues to evolve, additional practices may be incorporated into the framework. 

Why Focus on High-Impact Practices? 

Few educational interventions have been studied as extensively as High-Impact Practices. Across disciplines and institution types, students who participate in well-designed HIPs consistently demonstrate stronger academic engagement, learning, persistence, and completion. The benefits are particularly pronounced for first-generation students and students from historically underserved backgrounds. 

Research highlights include: 

  • Participation in HIPs is commonly associated with 5–10 percentage point increases in first-to-second-year retention.  
  • Each additional HIP completed substantially increases students' likelihood of graduating, with one national study finding students who completed multiple HIPs were 1.8 times more likely to graduate.  
  • First-generation students who participated in five or six HIPs demonstrated approximately 35% higher engagement in deep learning than comparable students who did not participate.  

Resources for High-Impact Practices 

The following are recommended high-impact practices for degree programs: 

The following high-impact practices, though more commonly found in core curricula, could be explored by degree programs if desired. These require a greater degree of curriculum coordination across courses and faculty. 

Note: The First Year Seminar has a dedicated working group of faculty across meta-majors as well as staff that are working on this high-impact practice. Updates will be provided when available.