Indiana University’s commitment to student success will involve a new initiative starting in the fall 2025 semester at all campuses. Engage & Thrive at IU encourages students to participate in activities that correlate to success, including those that provide a foundation of personal financial knowledge.

The initiative was created by the Office of the Vice President for Student Success
in partnership with Fidelity Investments. Students will have incentives to participate in a series of activities. After completing an activity, money will be deposited into Fidelity investment accounts for each student.

A Fidelity app will help students keep track of their financial progress. Activities they participate in could be in person, involve digital resources or involve completing in-app lessons. Examples include:

• Attending academic workshops.
• Participating in student organization events.
• Using health and wellness resources.
• Learning financial wellness basics.

“Research on student success shows a direct connection between engagement and thriving,” Vice President for Student Success Julie Payne-Kirchmeier said. “This new partnership with Fidelity, alongside the strategic and important collaboration with our campus student success partners, will empower our first-year students to deeply engage with events, programs, organizations and services that have the strongest impact on student success.”

The Engage & Thrive initiative will begin with first-year students during the 2025-26 academic year. Participation is voluntary, and students must opt-in to participate.

Fidelity has been involved in this type of initiative for three years and partners with other universities to support student success.

Engage & Thrive will encourage students to engage in activities grounded in the Undergraduate Framework. Each IU campus and the Office of the Vice President for Student Success will determine unique co-curricular pathways for students based on their campus.

The Fidelity app will allow students to invest the money received, set financial goals and view their holdings.

Kirk Johannesen is a communications consultant in the Office of the Vice President for Communications and Marketing.