Academic Advising Services Key to Student Retention, but Underutilized

“On most college campuses, advising is still looked upon primarily as the practice of choosing and scheduling classes for students,” said Wes Habley, director of ACT’s Office for the Enhancement of Educational Practices and author of the report. “In fact, advising can be an effective tool to increase retention and graduation rates.”

Nearly a third of first-year college students don’t return for a second year. In addition, only a little more than half of all students who attend four-year colleges typically earn a degree within five years of entry, according to ACT data.

The research on college retention and graduation suggests that the primary factor directly affecting whether a student stays in college and graduates is the quality of the interaction he or she has with a concerned person in the campus community. The advising process is one way a college can formally implement this type of interaction.

“Academic advising is the only structured activity on the college campus in which all students have the opportunity for one-on-one interaction with a concerned representative of the institution,” said Habley.

The survey results suggest few colleges have a formal, structured program in place to effectively promote advising as a tool to increase retention. Most, in fact, don’t even have a consistent, campuswide advising program.

“Too often, college advising is not carried out in a methodical, organized manner,” said Habley.

Despite the shortcomings identified by the survey, the findings suggest progress has been made in academic advising practices over the past few decades. Specific advances include:

• An increase in the percentage of institutions that identify an individual with responsibility for coordinating or directing campus advising services (from 69 percent in 1987 to 84 percent currently)
• An increase in the percentage of institutions with an advising office or center (from 60 percent in 1987 to 73 percent currently)
• An increase in the percentage of institutions that conduct regular program evaluation of advising services (from 43 percent in 1987 to 58 percent currently)

“Academic advising has certainly come a long way over the years,” said Habley. “Thirty years ago, it was difficult to find anyone with the title of director of academic advising on college campuses, let alone a structured advising program. But, we still have a long way to go.”

The Sixth National ACT Survey of Academic Advising in colleges and universities was conducted in 2003 by ACT in cooperation with NACADA. The study is the sixth in a series of ACT tracking surveys started in 1979. Other surveys were conducted in 1983, 1987, 1993, and 1998.

The sample comprised 1,421 advising officials and leaders from colleges and universities around the country. Surveys were mailed to 3,019 two-year and four-year institutions, yielding a response rate of 47 percent. The sample is representative of the survey population in terms of school type and size. The full report is available for purchase through the NACADA website (opens in a new window).