Advising for College Success: Policies, Practices, and Programs That Support Students on the Path to College Completion

From fall 2021 to summer 2022, the American Institutes for Research (AIR) conducted virtual focus groups with administrators at 47 colleges: a nationally representative sample of 36 2-year and broad-access 4-year colleges and a purposive sample of 11 colleges selected for their track record with advising. The study identified four key findings that can inform future research: (1) Advising policies, practices, and programs often focused on the first year of college, with the intent of setting students up for success at entry; (2) College administrators reported using different types of strategies for supporting students in the face of time and resource constraints; (3) College administrators reported using a combination of light-touch strategies (such as nudging) and more intensive strategies (such as proactive advising) to support students' progress through college; and (4) Increasingly, and especially since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, colleges have recognized the importance of meeting students' basic needs. College administrators can use the findings from this study to learn about approaches to advising other colleges are using, and the successes and challenges of implementation, and researchers who study advising and other student success initiatives can use the findings from this study to identify directions for future research. [For "Advising for College Success: Next Steps for Policymakers, Practitioners, and Researchers," see ED626636. For "Advising for College Success: A Systematic Review of the Evidence. Appendix C," see ED626639. For "Advising for College Success: A Systematic Review of the Evidence," see ED626933.]