Student Readiness Declines as Colleges Face Support

Student success leaders report a continued decline in both academic and social readiness among undergraduates, according to a new national survey. The research from EAB, conducted in June, surveyed 459 leaders at two- and four-year institutions and found 59 percent saw a decline in social readiness over the past year, while 54 percent reported a drop in academic readiness.

Tara Zirkel, director of strategic research at EAB and the report's principal author, said these trends, which began during the pandemic, have not substantially improved. The metrics include standardized test scores and GPAs, as well as executive-function skills like studying and problem-solving.

"There are all these signals that there's this academic-readiness decline," Zirkel said. Faculty members report being able to assign less reading material than before.

On the social side, Zirkel said the decline manifests in students struggling with roommate conflicts, finding friends, or joining campus organizations.

Capacity Constraints Challenge Institutions

Leaders widely recognize that keeping students enrolled requires addressing non-academic challenges. The survey identified key factors negatively impacting student retention.

Zirkel noted that students with strong academic records sometimes vanish due to unseen mental health, financial, or social pressures. This requires a broader view of success indicators beyond GPA.

Institutions face their own operational hurdles. Sixty percent of leaders cited budget constraints and 55 percent pointed to staffing shortages as barriers to meeting student success goals. These limit the ability to expand necessary support services.

Zirkel emphasized the need for institutions to identify their highest-need students to allocate limited resources efficiently. Other internal barriers include insufficient coordination across departments (39 percent), resistance to change (32 percent), and limited faculty engagement (28 percent).

These challenges create specific capacity gaps. A quarter of leaders identified front-line staffing as their greatest shortfall, and 24 percent pointed to cross-campus coordination.

Scaling Effective Support Strategies

Despite constraints, leaders agree on which interventions are most effective. Proactive advising was identified by 44 percent of respondents as a top strategy, followed by early alerts for at-risk students (43 percent) and academic support services like tutoring (32 percent).

Scaling these approaches is difficult, with adviser-to-student ratios at many institutions exceeding 300 to one. Zirkel suggested proactively understanding a student's life circumstances before a semester begins can powerfully connect them with resources.

Technology and AI could help stretch limited staff capacity, but leaders are cautious about replacing human connections. The survey found 59 percent believe AI can support routine interactions but staff should remain the norm.

"We are seeing institutions use technology to augment some of their staff workload," Zirkel said. AI tools could handle repetitive tasks to free up staff for more meaningful engagement.

Pressure to Demonstrate Degree Value

Colleges face growing pressure to demonstrate the return on investment of a degree. Fifty-four percent of leaders said expectations for showing ROI increased over the past year.

However, many lack the data infrastructure to track outcomes. Forty percent do not track graduate earnings, and 23 percent do not track post-graduation employment or further education outcomes.

Zirkel said obtaining employment data is extremely difficult, creating a bottleneck. She stated it is not for lack of trying, but is an extremely difficult ball to push up the hill.

While funding and staffing are the largest barriers, Zirkel said change management and campus culture are areas where leaders have more immediate control. Building a campus-wide culture centered on student success, graduation, and retention is important.

Students need to know their pathway leads to a desired career outcome, Zirkel argued. There has to be an endpoint they are working towards.