Higher education leaders across the country agree: student success shouldn’t feel like a maze.
After conversations with more than 200 colleges and universities, we’ve seen the same challenges surface again and again. Many advising and career teams are overextended. Systems are fragmented. And students—no matter how motivated—often get lost in the complexity.
The issue isn’t a lack of effort or expertise. It’s that the systems meant to support students were not designed for the realities of higher education today.
When we look closer, five recurring barriers consistently prevent students from finding their way to meaningful academic and career outcomes. Let’s unpack what’s really holding students back and what teams are doing to change it.
According to an Inside Higher Ed Student Voice survey, 26% of respondents said they lacked clarity about how to navigate academic and career pathways.
With advisor-to-student ratios often around 1:1000, proactive guidance before key decisions is rare, and many students don’t encounter advising until after they’ve declared a major, dropped a course, or begun second-guessing their direction.
The result isn’t a lack of ambition, it’s uncertainty.
Pilot Insight (Advisor AI):
At one partner university, advising and career services used Advisor AI to help 124 first-year students explore best-fit majors and career paths and generate personalized plans. Within 12 weeks, students’ confidence in the value of their degree programs doubled.
Early, strengths-aligned guidance increased motivation and helped students commit to next steps.
Across most campuses, students must navigate 20–30 different advising and career tools, many of which haven’t been updated in years. The result? Student engagement hovers around 2–5%.
College websites often resemble scavenger hunts. Students seeking tutoring, career advice, or financial aid may need to click through multiple systems and documents just to find a single contact.
Students didn’t enroll to become digital detectives. They came to learn, connect, and grow. When resources are scattered, even the most determined students miss out on timely support.
Pilot Insight:
At another institution, only 70% of students completed mandatory advising tasks before implementation of Advisor AI. After launch, completion jumped to over 90%. Students described the experience as “simpler,” “more personalized,” and “easy to follow.”
Streamlining resources doesn’t just reduce confusion; it builds trust.
Many teams are experiencing what we call tech fatigue.
One advisor shared, “Our advisors have become system administrators: managing websites, setting up and maintaining data, creating workflows, and managing endless updates. Engagement hasn’t improved at all.” Another dean told us, “We started launching our new advising system in October 2024. It's October 2025, and we’re still not live.”
That’s not a people problem; it’s a technology problem. Software should simplify work, not add to it.
Pilot Insight:
At a community college using Advisor AI, the platform integrated advising, career exploration, and course planning—all in under four weeks. By week eight, more than 100 students had already engaged in new advising interactions. Engagement grew 300% in less than half the time typical systems take to launch.
Innovation should feel like relief, not one more item on the to-do list.
Too often, academic and career advising run on parallel tracks.
Academic advisors guide course selection. Career teams focus on resumes and internships. Student success offices track retention. But for students, it’s all one experience.
As one administrator put it; “Students aren’t leads in a CRM. They’re individuals looking for guidance, not handoffs.”
When support is split across departments, students end up asking, “Who can actually help me?”
Pilot Insight:
In one business school, a single advisor supported more than 500 student advising requests in four weeks using Advisor AI’s self-service workflows. Students came to meetings prepared, and advisors could instantly view progress notes and feedback.
When academic and career advising are connected, students gain confidence and staff gain time for more meaningful conversations.
Most campuses are rich in data but poor in insight.
One career office shared, “We reviewed 3,000 resumes last year.” Another reported, “We built reports on resume completion and student persistence.” But when asked how many students found meaningful employment or stayed enrolled, neither team could say.
That’s not because they don’t care. It’s because their data lives in disconnected systems.
Pilot Insight:
Institutions using Advisor AI can now view student engagement, interests, and academic milestones in one place. Teams can easily identify where support is needed most, personalize outreach, and see early indicators of student success.
When data tells a cohesive story, every department can move from reporting to real impact.
Across every type of institution—large and small, public and private—the same truth holds: student success isn’t about more tools or more reports. It’s about clarity, connection, and confidence.
The most successful institutions are those designing for simplicity: one connected experience where every student can find their next step and every advisor can focus on what matters most.
When we design education around people, not processes, students don’t just persist.
They thrive.