Why advising reform can’t wait—and what colleges and universities must do now

Across higher education, leaders are being asked to do more with less, while the stakes for student success have never been higher. Colleges and universities face growing skepticism about the value of a degree, widening student readiness gaps, and tightening human and financial resources. At the same time, expectations continue to rise to improve the student experience, boost retention, and deliver on the institution’s student value proposition. 

Academic advisors are increasingly on the front lines of these pressures, asked to respond to widening academic, socioemotional, financial, and career readiness gaps, often without the clarity, capacity, or infrastructure to do so sustainably. In this environment, one truth has become impossible to ignore: academic advising remains one of the most powerful levers institutions have to meet these challenges, if they are willing to rethink how advising is structured, supported, and delivered. 

Why current advising models fall short for today’s students

Most institutions have invested meaningfully in advising over the past decade. Yet EAB’s research shows those investments are often made in isolated pockets, driven by departmental priorities, short-term funds, or historical reporting lines rather than a unified institutional strategy. The result is a fragmented advising landscape where student support varies dramatically across colleges, programs, and advising roles.

Too often, students encounter a patchwork of advising experiences that depend more on institutional structure than on student need. As a result, students receive vastly different levels of support from office to office and advisor to advisor. First-year students may receive proactive, high-touch support, only to experience a steep drop-off in contact once they declare a major. Students who change programs frequently fall through the cracks. The challenge is not inconsistency alone; it is systemic misalignment between student needs, advisor roles, and institutional expectations.

Faculty and professional advisors report feeling overwhelmed by the complexity and volume of student needs, unclear expectations, and administrative tasks that pull them away from high-impact work. Many are asked to operate outside their training, leading to inefficiencies, advisor burnout, and a diminished student experience.

In short: advising has never mattered more, yet the current model was not designed for today’s students or today’s institutional realities.

The cost of inaction is rising

Delaying advising reform carries real risks:

• Widening equity gaps, as inconsistent advising disproportionately affects first-generation, less academically prepared, and financially vulnerable students
• Wasted resources, as duplicative or misaligned efforts, undermine efficiency
• Unmet enrollment and retention goals, as students fail to receive timely, targeted support and stop out or transfer
• Advisor attrition, as expectations rise but training, clarity, and support do not

Without intervention, these dynamics compound over time, driving higher advisor turnover, increasing reliance on reactive support, and limiting institutions’ ability to meaningfully improve student outcomes. EAB partner institutions that have redesigned their advising models by standardizing expectations, implementing coordinated care networks, and leveraging technology and analytics have seen measurable gains in retention, persistence, and graduation, often accompanied by significant increases in tuition revenue.

The takeaway is clear: strengthening advising is both mission-critical and financially strategic.

What it takes to move advising from transactional to transformative

One of the most important advising shifts institutions must make is moving from transactional interactions to relational, developmental partnerships.

Appreciative advising is grounded in trust, understanding, and shared responsibility between students and advisors. It supports holistic well-being, encourages belonging, and helps students articulate and pursue long-term goals. While many advisors already aspire to appreciative and transformative practice, institutions often lack the structures, training, role clarity, and coordinated processes needed to ensure these aspirations are applied consistently and sustainably. 

Appreciative advising becomes sustainable only when institutions intentionally differentiate care, standardize expectations, and use technology to ensure advisors spend their limited time where relationships matter most, regardless of organizational structure. 

To deliver appreciative and transformative advising at scale, modern advising systems must reflect three core imperatives:

Even institutions aligned on the need for appreciative, developmental advising often struggle with execution. Advisors face an impossible mandate: address increasingly complex student needs with finite time, uneven resources, and unclear escalation pathways. The question for leaders is no longer whether advising must change, but how to focus limited capacity where it will make the greatest difference—without sacrificing equity, consistency, or sustainability.

This is where a just-in-time approach to advising becomes critical.

Why the moment for advising transformation is now—and how EAB can help

Students’ needs are more complex. Institutional resources are more strained. Expectations from boards, policymakers, and families are higher than ever. Institutions have an unprecedented opportunity to redesign advising models to meet this moment with clarity, compassion, and strategic purpose. This is not just a chance to fix what is broken—it is a chance to build advising systems that truly reflect today’s learners and tomorrow’s ambitions.

If your institution is ready to clarify advising responsibilities, build a more coherent and equitable student experience, better leverage data, technology, and AI, or design a future-ready advising model, EAB can provide support. We help partners move from aspiration to execution through a structured, decision-driven pathway, from diagnosing the current state to designing, implementing, and sustaining advising reform. Our guidance will help senior leaders:

Let’s build an advising system that meets students where they are—and helps them get where they want to go.

Kevin Clarke

Associate Director, Research Advisory Services

Read Bio

• Kevin Clarke's LinkedIn page