Until recently, the concept of nudging low-cost, low-touch interventions aimed at driving people toward particular behaviors without mandating action or restricting options was a popular strategy with student support units across higher education. Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein popularized this approach, based on behavioral science, in their 2008 book,
Nudge, and scholars like Ben Castleman at the University of Virginia and Caroline Hoxby at Stanford University shortly thereafter adapted it for use in higher education. Recognizing that social, physical and psychological factors can often discourage students from acting in their own self-interest, those scholars showed that nudging could help students navigate college and the complex bureaucratic processes that often create barriers to academic success.