User-friendly, class tested and authoritatively research-based, Step by Step to College and Career Success offers students proven information and straightforward strategies that they can apply toward their success. This is the briefest title in the Gardner family of books, and the authors have focused on the most crucial skills and the most important choices students make in order to succeed in college and beyond.

Featuring a compelling new design, the new edition covers pressing topics that affect students' lives and how they learn, expanding on the book'ss themes of motivation, persistence, resilience, and decision-making.  Each new copy of the text can be packaged with LearningCurve, a new adaptive, online assessment tool. A full package of instructional support materials—including an Instructor's Manual, PowerPoint slides, videos, and a Test Bank—provides new and experienced instructors all the tools they will need to engage students in this course and increase student retention.

Betsy O. Barefoot is a writer, researcher, and teacher whose special area of scholarship is the first-year seminar. During her tenure at USC from 1988 to 1999, she served as codirector for research and publications at the National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition. She also taught University 101 and graduate courses on the first-year experience and the principles of college teaching. She conducts first-year seminar faculty training workshops around the world and is frequently called on to evaluate first-year seminar outcomes. Betsy is codirector and senior scholar in the Policy Center on the First Year of College and Vice President of the John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education both in Brevard, N.C. In her Policy Center role she led a major national research project to identify institutions of excellence in the first college year. She currently works with both two- and four-year campuses in evaluating all components of the first year.

A fun, streamlined, and compelling approach. The text has been streamlined and focused to make it as readable as possible. New pull-out "articles" address important, real-world topics of pressing concern to students such as what to do if they get behind in their reading, the importance of R-E-S-P-E-C-T in all aspects of college life, how to make themselves truly marketable to potential employers, and many more.

Expanded coverage of technology and online learning.Technology continues to transform aspects of the college experience and students. Step by Step is staying on the cutting edge. Coverage of technological tools and skills has been integrated into every chapter in the book, and included as new, discrete articles. Topics include using electronic tools for planning and time management; and guidelines for communicating successfully through e-mail, texts, and social media in school, in life, and on the job.

Expanded in each chapter get students involved. Focusing on four themes—managing time, feeling connected, setting goals, and making decisions—each Try It! box explains a specific action for students to try, the benefit of doing so, and first steps to get started. They can be used for student self-direction or as assignments inside or outside the classroom.

A great new design and expanded art program engage students. The new design is fresh, colorful, and open, and makes information easy to find and understand. The art program has been expanded and updated, with more images of current students and more pop culture to help make students feel comfortable and connected.

Powerful LearningCurve online assessment system available with every new book. When it comes to retaining new information, research shows that self-testing with small, bite-sized chunks of information works best. LearningCurve for College Success, a new adaptive online quizzing program, quickly learns what students already know and helps them practice what they don't yet understand. LearningCurve motivates students to engage with key concepts before they come to class so that they are ready to participate, and reporting tools help teachers discern their students' needs.