Albion College, a private, undergraduate-only, liberal arts college in Michigan, USA, has developed
and implemented a low-cost peer-mentoring programme that blends personal and academic support to
help students achieve academic success in the introductory courses required for the Physics Major or
the Dual-Degree Program in Engineering. This enhanced mentoring programme provides much-needed
assistance for undergraduate students to master introductory physics and mathematics coursework, to
normalise the struggle of learning hard material, and to accept their identity as physics or
engineering students (among other goals). Importantly, this programme has increased retention among
entering science, technology, engineering and mathematics students at Albion College as they move
through the introductory classes, as shown by a 20% increase in retention from first-semester to
third-semester physics courses compared to years when this programme was not in place.