The psychological construct of hope, characterized by goal-directed thinking rooted in personal agency and the ability to develop pathways to achieve goals, has long been demonstrated to predict academic success. A sample of 994 undergraduates participated in this study to better understand the role of hope and on-campus social support in predicting students’ perceived ability to persist and succeed in college. Results demonstrated that on-campus support, particularly from teachers and professors, significantly predicted academic outcomes and hope. In addition, we found evidence of a support gap in which students from underrepresented ethnic minorities were far more likely to report that they had no support from educators on campus. Findings demonstrate the need for more research on the role of social support in developing hope in college students and highlight the value of encouraging meaningful relationships between students and faculty on campus.

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We are most grateful to our many funders, including the Gabe W. Miller Memorial Foundation, who partially supported the initial phase of the Empowering Counseling Program (K. Tyson McCrea, P.I.). In addition, we are most appreciative of the support of Jack C. Wall, Ph.D.

While social workers strive to build disadvantaged African American youths' resilience by improving services, rarely are those youths' perspectives included in research. In a previous evaluation of an after-school program, disadvantaged African American youths prioritized instructors' compassion and said compassion engendered hope. This study explores their connection between compassion and hope more deeply. Focusing on Snyder's hope theory, this study examines the connection between compassion and hope as individual traits (using standardized scales) and as relational, action-based experiences (using qualitative analysis of interview data). Instructor actions that youths identified as compassionate and as engendering hope were encouragement, problem solving, responsive empathy, and affirming that good choices could bring about good futures. Youths built their hope by internalizing their instructors' compassion. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE •Hope itself is not taught, nor is it awakened by imparting cognitive skills or coping strategies-according to youths in this study, hope is ignited by receiving compassion.• Involving disadvantaged youths in cocreating and co-evaluating the services in which they partake affirms youths as experts about how social services foster their development.