May 18, 2026. By Marybeth Gasman, Contributor, Forbes.
Ed Advancement’s new report on the Front Porch Portal focuses on how students often cannot easily find the information they need to stay enrolled and on track to graduate. The Front Porch Portal functions as a mobile-friendly, digital hub where students can check financial aid, grades, housing information, schedules, deadlines, campus events, and support services without having to navigate multiple disconnected systems.
The new report, titled Answers at Their Fingertips: Building a Front Porch Portal for Centralized Student Support, examines how a collaboration between Ed Advancement and historically Black Virginia State University answers the question: What would happen if institutions designed administrative systems around how students live and move through college?
As Makola M. Abdullah, president of Virginia State University (VSU), explained, “With the Front Porch Portal, the problem that we’re trying to solve is really to get students access to their data. We feel very strongly that the more the students are able to navigate the administrative side of their work, the more they can spend more time on the academic side and do better in class.” The overarching goal is to simplify students’ interaction with the institution.