Hi! I am Arjun, founder of Advisor.AI. Before launching Advisor.AI, I spent the last decade advising students across Kutztown & Drexel University, building technology solutions for Fortune 500 companies, leading global AI projects at Datarobot and OpenText, and educating thousands of business and technical audiences on the best practices for ethical tech.
Over the last 18 months, I have had the privilege of engaging with and learning from students, career counselors, academic advisors, deans, provosts, and university presidents representing more than 250 colleges. In this post, I will share the key trends in higher education and provide insights on how investing in student success, offering comprehensive advising services, and creating student-led programs can revitalize the promise of education and ensure that every student has the flexibility, support, and quality of instruction to prepare for transformative success.
Even though 70% of future jobs will require education or training beyond high school, 66% of students feel stressed about future careers and more than 32% of U.S. adults have little or no confidence in the value of higher education.
Recent survey research shows that more than 65% of students obtain college degrees to improve career-focused outcomes. However, the statistics are concerning when it comes to making informed decisions. Within first-generation and typically underserved student communities, only 8% feel fully prepared to make an informed decision after high school. From 2008 to 2021, the average college graduation rate in the U.S. was 60% at four-year schools. Let that sink in!
The need to justify the perceived value of higher education and support students in finding professional success has never been more challenging. This trend is further magnified due to a highly competitive, skill-focused, and rapidly evolving job market. A study by the McKinsey Global Institute reports that by 2030, at least 14% of employees globally could need to change their careers due to digitization, robotics, and AI advancements.
Even though advising is evidenced to significantly impact student outcomes, career mobility and graduation rates, most career service and advising centers have limited budgets and capacity (with an average student-to-advisor ratio of 408:1) to integrate career programs across different departments, conduct personalized student outreach, keep up with evolving job market trends, and provide on-demand support services from pre-enrollment to graduation to all individuals.
Even with well-intentioned use of education technology over the years, many colleges cite that students still don’t engage with career centers, due to the complexity of resource navigation - a typical career center and advising department has 10-20 tech solutions. Furthermore, obtaining faculty buy-in for edtech is becoming increasingly challenging due to the complexity of navigating hundreds of technology resources, extensive training and implementation periods, and limited value realization among students and educators alike. More than 50% of faculty has considered leaving due to burnout and high advising caseloads. In some colleges, the average staff and advisor turnover rate is 20-30%.
According to the American Association of State Colleges & Universities (AASCU), integrating career advising support with academic advising and co-curricular resources across a student’s college journey can increase the likelihood of student persistence, completion, and economic mobility by 2X. Furthermore, when coursework and learning opportunities within a given program of study are linked to an individual’s career goals, the perceived value of the degree program increases by 5X. Lastly, nine out of ten students today seek self-service tools and personalized information - to chart and navigate their own paths. When students see an alignment of their education with their career goals, they feel supported and are eager to maximize their college journey.
Advisor AI's mission is to help every student realize their boldest career dreams by providing personalized, holistic support throughout their academic journey. The team of Advisor AI is focused on transforming the student experience by ensuring students receive the guidance they need to succeed academically and in life after college. By transforming advising from a transactional process to a continuous, engaging, and impactful experience, universities can inspire every student to find meaning in their academic studies and future careers.
Originally published on LinkedIn on September 4, 2024.