Higher education can be a confusing world for students in any year or degree program. Students have to plan out which courses they register for, which major best suits their goals, and how to blend their passions with their academics — among other priorities.
For many students, effective academic advising strategies can mean the difference between completing a degree or giving up on their education. Adjusting your institution’s approach can significantly improve their outcomes.
Advising in higher education is an ongoing process where the advisor, who can be a faculty member or advising professional, guides students toward academic success and degree completion.
While advising is a necessity in higher education, students rarely receive the direction and support they need. The issue is especially challenging for public schools, where students find it more difficult to schedule appointments with their advisors.
This lack of guidance often leaves students feeling isolated and confused, which can lead them to drop out or transfer. And when students leave, your institution’s bottom line suffers — while enrolling new students will always be profitable, it’s still more beneficial to focus your efforts on student retention.
Some of the most common challenges in providing quality academic advising include:
Implementing one or a combination of the following strategies can help institutions better reach their students.
Often, students are unaware of what their advisors can do for them or how to get hold of them. Advisors must be proactive in making their students aware of what is available to them at the institution.
Some useful ways advisors can keep students in the loop include:
To determine the best course of action for improving academic advising, you’ll need to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your current program. There are various methods you can use to assess your institution based on its structure and size. However, your evaluation should address the following components:
Once your assessment is complete, evaluate the data you have collected to determine where your biggest weaknesses are and how to solve them.
Implementing best practices can help you break down the challenges your program is facing. Significant academic advising improvement is achievable through the following best practices:
Using a unified software solution can simplify the implementation of these by providing one place for all your student data. Instead of having to search through multiple systems for information on students who might be at risk, you can easily identify these students.
Data-driven decision-making has the power to revolutionize higher education. However, to leverage that information, you need to invest in the right data collection and analytics tools.
Student success software solutions pull student data from integrated technologies across your institution — such as your learning management system (LMS) and degree mapping tools — into one centralized location for efficient analysis. Seamless integrations enable programs to communicate with each other and share data, so the information you see is reliable and up to date.
If your institution uses the faculty or distributed advising model, you can also use a faculty success solution to gather information on each faculty member’s typical workload. This insight can help you determine how best to allocate students among your staff.
It’s challenging to make improvements to any program without engaging your institution’s key stakeholders, which typically include:
You must connect with stakeholder groups at every level to ensure your strategy meets everyone’s unique needs and expectations. Engaging stakeholders early is essential for making a strong connection.
Personalized communication helps increase the chances students will see and respond to advisor messages. For example, advisors can lean on familiar technologies to better reach students in need.
Some common channels of student-friendly communication include:
Advisors can also survey students to determine which method would be most effective each academic year.
A strong sense of belonging can dramatically increase a student’s chances of success in higher education. While advisors may not be from the same backgrounds as your students, being inclusive in advising is critical for ensuring all students can benefit from professional and academic guidance.
Software that streamlines data collection and analysis can help advising staff identify the most effective ways to build real engagement with students. For example, your analyses could reveal that older students who work full-time are most likely to fall behind in their studies. You can then develop resources and programs to support their learning while maintaining academic rigor.
Conventional advising models are reactive, meaning that advisors wait to step in until students are actively struggling. Adopting a proactive approach is one of the most effective strategies for academic advising because it enables advisors to address issues before they can escalate and improve retention and graduation rates.
Predictive analytics tools powered by artificial intelligence (AI) give advisors the visibility they need to see which students need help and when. For example, a predictive analytics solution for higher education can:
These features can help your advisors stay aware of where each student is in their journey so they can reach out and set up an appointment.
Many students, especially first years, struggle when they’re unsure what expectations they must meet to progress. For example, the self-directed nature of higher education can be especially challenging for recent high school graduates because they’re accustomed to following a pre-set schedule.
During the first advising appointment, or even before, advisors should establish exactly what students need to do.
Advisors should also encourage students to reach out in case they need any help adjusting to the institution or persisting in difficult classes. Even if the advisor can’t help the student themselves, they can still refer the student to the department or professional staff member who can.
Recent data reveals that transitioning from higher education to the job market can be tough for new grads. According to a 2024 report, 52 percent of recent four-year graduates struggle to find a job that matches their qualifications. Approximately 45 percent of those graduates are still underemployed 10 years after completing their degrees.
Maintaining a strong connection with graduates can help your institution improve advising outcomes well beyond degree completion. For example, advisors can follow up with former students and give them access to guidance and resources that may have been hidden otherwise.
Advisors can create useful follow-up programs by:
Staying in touch with future students can also help you solicit feedback on the evolving labor market, so you can enhance the effectiveness of your degree programs.
In a recent study from Inside Higher Ed, only 55 percent of students at two- and four-year institutions reported receiving guidance on required courses and course sequences needed for graduation from their academic advisors. While unintentional, that lack of guidance can leave many students feeling lost or confused about what they must do to achieve their goals.
Student roadmaps provide students with clear instructions for completing their degrees. They should contain essential information such as:
While roadmaps will vary between degree programs based on the specific requirements of each major, there is a level of standardization that advisors can lean on to ensure consistency.
That said, it’s still critical to remember that each student’s academic journey is different. While a standardized roadmap can help most students at a basic level, advisors should be able to adapt that roadmap to each student’s individual goals and needs.
For example, a student who wants to earn a double major needs an individualized roadmap that can combine both programs without requiring additional semesters or becoming overwhelming.
Investing in your advising program is essential for ensuring your students have the best possible chance at finding success.
Our Student Success & Engagement solution provides the centralized database your institution needs to monitor student performance and intervene at the optimal time. Plus, advanced reporting features enable stakeholders to visualize key data points.
If you’re looking to boost retention and strengthen your advising program, Watermark can help. Request your free demo of Student Success & Engagement today to get started.
