Understanding Points vs. Paths
Points and Paths are powerful features that help campuses recognize, motivate, and measure student engagement. While they can be used on their own, many institutions achieve the best results by using them together, supporting both short-term motivation and long-term developmental growth.
This guide explains how each tool works, how they differ, how they can complement one another, and how to refine your strategy if you’ve previously used Paths to gamify involvement.
Topics Covered in This Article:
What are Points?
Points allow campuses to award a numerical value for student participation in Activities such as events, workshops, programs, and other engagement opportunities.
What Points Are Good For
Points support:
Gamification and motivation
Short-term engagement campaigns
Competitions, challenges, and leaderboards
Reward programs (prizes, raffles, incentives)
Tracking cumulative participation at scale
Important Characteristics of Points
Awarded in real time: Points are earned at the moment attendance is captured.
Not retroactive: Points cannot be earned for past events or for attendance before Points were enabled.
Ongoing experience: There is no completion state, students can always earn more Points.
Campus-wide: All Engage users are automatically able to earn Points; there is only one Points program per institution.
Motivational design: Leaderboards and rankings help drive engagement (based on admin settings).
Tip: Points are best for motivating broad participation and encouraging students to stay active week to week.
What are Paths?
Paths organize developmental or educational experiences into structured requirements that students complete over time.
What Paths Are Good For
Paths support:
Learning outcomes and competency development
Certification or credential-style programs
Orientation and onboarding flows
Leadership programs
Long-term, multi-step experiences
Important Characteristics of Paths
Retroactive progress: Paths grant credit for requirements students already met, even before the Path existed.
Visible progression: Students and administrators can track progress toward completion.
Defined “finish line”: Paths have a clear completion state (e.g., 100%).
Individual journey: Students complete Paths independently with no competitive comparison.
Flexible enrollment: Admins may restrict enrollment or auto-enroll students.
Unlimited quantity: Campuses can have many Paths, each tracking different cohorts or objectives.
Tip: Paths are ideal for structured learning and guiding students through intentional developmental journeys.
Key Differences Between Points and Paths
Feature | Points | Paths |
Purpose | Motivation & Gamification | Developmental Progress |
Retroactive credit | No | Yes |
Earning Credit | At time of attendance capture | Whenever criteria is met |
Completion State | No concept of “done” | 100% complete |
Enrollment | All Users | Admin Controlled |
Quantity | One Points program | Unlimited Paths |
Competition | Yes (optional) | No |
How Points and Paths Overlap
Both use the same attendance data and both help students visualize their engagement. However,
Points reward participation.
Paths track structured progression.
And importantly: The same event can award both Points and Path credit. For example, a leadership workshop may award 10 Points and satisfy a requirement in a Leadership Development Path.
How to Decide Wheter to Use Points, Paths, or Both
Choose Points if your goals include: | Choose Paths if your goals include: | Choose Both when you want: |
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Students can earn Points and Path credit from the same event without extra setup.
How Points and Paths Work Together
Points and Paths allow campuses to design layered, intentional engagement ecosystems:
Points introduce students to campus opportunities and build foundational involvement habits.
Community-wide Paths set shared expectations or traditions all students complete (e.g., “Campus Foundations”).
Targeted/advanced Paths deepen learning (e.g., leadership, career development, diversity curricula).
This progression reflects Astin’s Theory of Involvement: more time and energy invested leads to deeper learning and stronger success outcomes.
Guidance for Revising Your Paths Strategy (Especiallly if You Used Paths for Gamification)
Many campuses historically used Paths to mimic a points system, requiring students to attend a certain number of events or activities. With the introduction of Points, you now have a tool designed specifically for this purpose.
This is not about redoing your work; it’s about making your programs simpler, clearer, and easier to maintain.
Signs a Path Might Belong in Points Instead
Your existing Path may be a better fit for Points if:
It rewards broad participation without requiring specific learning outcomes
Students found it confusing or overly complex
It contains many “attend any event” criteria
It was expanded artificially to simulate incremental steps
Completion wasn’t the real focus; the experience was
How to Refine Your Paths Strategy
1. Review your existing Paths
Ask:
What was this Path originally designed to do?
Was it truly developmental, or primarily motivational?
2. Identify which elements fit naturally into Points
Good candidates for Points: | Not good candidates for Points: |
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3. Build your Points program intentionally
Design for the motivations and behaviors you want today, not necessarily your historical structure.
4. Re-evaluate whether each Path still makes sense
Options include:
Keep the Path as-is
Refine or rebuild for clarity and alignment
Retire Paths that no longer serve a defined developmental purpose
Leave everything in place for now and refine gradually, no need to make sweeping changes immediately
Example Scenarios
Scenario 1: Weeks of Welcome Campaign with dozens of “attend anything” steps.
Recommendation: Use Points for broad engagement during WoW.
Exception: Keep a Path only if students must complete specific experiences.
Scenario 2: Leadership Development Program where tudents complete workshops, reflections, and service hours in a specific sequence.
Recommendation: Keep and strengthen as a Path.
Exception: Add some Path criteria as Point Activities to motivate early participation before enrollment.
Scenario 3: Campus-Wide Involvement Challenge where students earn rewards for participating across campus.
Recommendation: Move this into Points.
Exception: If there are signature university experiences you want to track, you may keep a complementary Path.
Key Takeaway
You don’t need to convert a Path directly into Points. Instead:
Paths guide structured learning.
Points drive motivation and participation.
By using each tool for its intended purpose—and by refining your existing Paths only where it makes sense—you’ll create a cleaner, more scalable, and more engaging experience for students.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why was the Points feature created?
Many campuses tried to use Paths for gamification and often encountered obstacles. Points provides a simpler, scalable, and purpose-built way to encourage campus-wide engagement.
Is Points replacing Paths?
No. Paths remain essential for structured, developmental programs.
Will adopting Points create a lot of extra work?
Not at all. Most campuses will begin by using Points for new or upcoming initiatives. Any Path refinements can be gradual and optional.
Can I convert a Path to Points?
Because Paths and Points serve different goals, a one-to-one conversion rarely makes sense. Instead, we encourage campuses to look at:
Which parts of a program are developmental → best for Paths
Which parts are motivational or participation-driven → perfect for Points
This approach creates a smoother, clearer experience for students.
Do Points have a completion requirement like Paths?
No. Points are continuous and do not have a concept of “done.” Paths have milestones, completion states, and defined outcomes.
Do Points count toward Path completion?
No. Points and Path credit are independent; one does not directly contribute to the other, but overlapping criteria may award both Path credit and Points.
Can an event count for both Points and a Path?
Yes. The same event can award Points and count toward a Path milestone without any additional setup.
Can I use Paths without Points?
Absolutely. Many campuses will continue to use Paths as standalone structured experiences.
Can I use Points without Paths?
Yes. Many campuses will choose to use Points as standalone way to gamify campus involvement.
What if my current Path feels like a Points program?
If a Path was built mainly to encourage participation (rather than to guide a structured educational progression), Points may now offer a more flexible, easier-to-manage alternative.
Should I rebuild my Path now that Points exist?
Only if it no longer aligns with your goals. Review each Path individually and ask:
Does it still serve a developmental or learning purpose?
Does it guide students toward specific skills or outcomes?
Is it structured and intentional?
If yes, keep it (or refine it). If not, consider retiring it or creating a simpler, better-aligned Path.
Should I edit an existing Path?
Major edits are not recommended because existing completions can’t be revoked. Instead, contact Support to duplicate the Path. From there you can edit the new version, and enroll students in the updated version. For more information, please see our article on Editing Path Items.
Do students earn Points for past attendance?
No. Points begin only when attendance is captured after Points are enabled.
Do students earn Path credit for past attendance?
Yes. Paths award retroactive credit automatically.
Can Points be used for end-of-year awards?
Yes. Points are ideal for recognizing cumulative engagement or rewarding high participation.
Can students track both Points and Path progress?
Yes. They will see their Path progress and Points totals independently, and events will automatically update both where applicable.