Difficulties and Breakthroughs of Home Visits for Financially Disadvantaged College Students from the Perspective of Developmental Funding Education-A Case Study of the School of Mechanical Engineering, Yangzhou Polytechnic University

Home visits serve as a core mechanism for the accurate identification of financially disadvantaged college students and the effective delivery of funding-based education within higher education institutions. Nevertheless, their practical implementation is frequently plagued by limited geographical coverage, persistent barriers to information verification, inadequate longitudinal follow-up support, and a range of other real-world challenges that undermine the precision and equity of student financial aid programs. Taking the School of Mechanical Engineering at Yangzhou Polytechnic University as a representative case, this paper systematically examines the institution's practical efforts in conducting home visits within the broader framework of developmental funding education. It analyzes multiple dimensions of difficulty, including technical constraints in data collection, spatial barriers arising from dispersed student residences, and resource limitations in staffing and funding. In response, the study summarizes several breakthrough approaches, such as integrated online-offline visit models, three-stage supportive home visits spanning students' entire academic development trajectory, and collaborative linkage mechanisms among schools, families, and communities. Furthermore, the study proposes integrating home visits into a comprehensive funding education system characterized by work-study integration and school-enterprise closed-loop collaboration. It advocates that home visits should extend throughout students' complete journey from admission to employment, forming a closed loop encompassing vocational competency training, on-the-job practice, and alumni feedback. This paradigm shift transforms funding work from mere financial assistance to holistic growth empowerment, thereby fulfilling the fundamental educational mission of fostering virtue through comprehensive student development.