The featured take
Key takeaway
EAB just surveyed student success leaders nationwide, and the numbers describe a system falling behind its own caseload. Fifty-nine percent report declining social readiness among students over the past year. Fifty-four percent report declining academic readiness. Only 7 percent saw improvement in either.
The reasons students leave keep piling up. Seventy-one percent of leaders point to financial pressure and 48 percent to mental health, while 60 percent cite budget constraints and 55 percent cite staffing shortages as the wall they keep hitting. EAB director Tara Zirkel put it plainly: "We have students that look really good on paper, and then they vanish." That is not an advising failure. It is a capacity failure.
The same survey shows institutions already know the fix. Forty-four percent say proactive, targeted advising is their most effective intervention, and 59 percent believe AI should handle the routine touchpoints so staff can focus on the students who need direct judgment. As Zirkel put it, "If we treat all students the same, we're overserving some and underserving others."
Budgets are not getting bigger next year, and staffing is not either. The schools that figure out how to scale personalized outreach without scaling headcount will be the ones that catch the students everyone else loses.
Also in this issue
4 Ways Colleges Are Making Student Support Easier to Access
Colleges are redesigning student support around students' lives instead of office hours, the same access problem career services faces every day.
High Schoolers Say Counselors Emphasize College Pathways, Not CTE
A new RAND survey finds schools still steer students toward four-year college even when career and technical paths might fit better, a navigation gap career services can close.
$280K Federal TRIO Grant Expands Career-Advising Capacity at Owens Community College
Federal dollars are explicitly funding advising capacity expansion, a budget signal for schools evaluating how to stretch career-services staff further.
Full Sail University Cuts 180 Jobs as Enrollment Falls 13%
Another round of higher ed layoffs is a reminder that career services teams are being asked to do more with fewer people.
MSCHE Launches AI Hub to Verify Workforce Pell Outcomes
Accreditors are now building their own AI-driven outcomes verification layer for Workforce Pell, the same accountability layer Prentus already sells to institutions directly.
Not Enough Students Know About Work-Based Learning Opportunities
Work-based learning is available but underused because students do not know it exists, a navigation problem, not a program problem.
New Mexico Launches Workforce Pell Program for Short-Term Career Training
New Mexico joins the growing list of states standing up Workforce Pell approval pipelines for short-term credentials.
Chattahoochee Technical College Expands Workforce Training with Yancey Brothers Partnership
A new employer-embedded diesel technician pathway lets new hires train for certification while already on the job.
LA County Invests $1.27M in Aerospace Workforce Training
LA County is funding a Rio Hondo College program that bundles technical training with career counseling and job placement for aerospace and manufacturing careers.
Students Are Reconsidering Majors and Career Paths Due to AI
Nearly a third of enrolled students have reconsidered their target industry because of AI, and career services teams are the ones fielding that anxiety.
Lowe's Foundation Launches Coalition to Boost Skilled-Trades Workforce
A new employer-college coalition backed by Lowe's, NVIDIA, and GM aims to train 1 million skilled tradespeople by 2035 and track outcomes from training through employment.
Tennessee's Free Community College Program Pays for Itself, Working Paper Finds
New research finds Tennessee Promise generates enough downstream tax revenue to pay for itself, a strong ROI data point for free-college advocates.
130 Colleges Have Supplied Missing Data on Student Outcomes
130 colleges have now supplied outcomes data ED previously flagged as missing, underscoring how fast institutions must move to close compliance gaps.
$3.75M Grant to Help Mott Community College Expand Workforce Training
A $3.75 million federal manufacturing grant will let Mott Community College fast-track employer-aligned training and certification.
How Accreditation Changes Could Impact Professional Licensure
As accreditation rules loosen, licensure boards are stepping in as the new outcomes gatekeeper for professional programs.
Week in Review: Trump Administration Targets ABA's Accrediting Arm
The federal government is now targeting the ABA law-school accrediting authority directly, the latest front in the accreditation-accountability fight.
Faculty Should Lead in Responding to Compact 2.0 (Opinion)
A fresh Inside Higher Ed opinion argues faculty must help shape how institutions respond to Secretary McMahon's Compact 2.0 letter.
As Pell Grants Expand, Students See Openings to Afford Short-Term Job Training
AP's first national look at Workforce Pell in action finds the earliest approved short-term programs enrolling now, but experts warn students risk spending down lifetime Pell eligibility on certificates that may not out-earn a bachelor's degree.
Back to School, Community College Edition: Texas Dual-Credit Enrollment Hits Record High
Texas dual-credit enrollment hit a record 282,000-plus students in 2025, up 20 percent since HB 8, a signal of how fast the pipeline into career-connected credentials is scaling.
Sent September 6, 2026 with the subject line “Why Students Who Look Fine on Paper Are the Ones Colleges Lose”. Links point to the original sources.