Student retention remains one of the biggest challenges facing colleges and universities. While there is no single solution, proactive advising has emerged as one of the most effective strategies for helping students stay on track and reach graduation.

Rather than waiting for students to ask for help (or until the end of the term during advising season), proactive advising focuses on identifying problems early and intervening before the student falls behind.

Why Proactive Advising Matters

Many students do not leave an institution because of a single event. More often, they experience a series of challenges that gradually pull them off course.

Common warning signs include:

• Poor performance on assignments or exams
• Excessive absences
• Failure to register for upcoming terms
• Falling behind in degree requirements
• Declining academic performance

The earlier advisors become aware of these issues, the more opportunities they have to provide support and help students regain momentum.

Identifying At-Risk Students Earlier

One of the biggest challenges for advisors is knowing which students need attention most urgently. With large caseloads, it can be difficult to manually monitor every student's progress.

FlightPath helps institutions take a more proactive approach through customizable Early Alerts and reporting tools. Advisors can be notified when students meet specific risk criteria, such as poor grades, attendance concerns, academic performance trends, or any other institution-defined indicators.

Instead of discovering problems at the end of a semester, advisors can intervene while there is still time to make a difference.

Prioritizing Students Who Need Support

Not all students face the same level of risk. That's why FlightPath includes an Academic Priority score for each student.  It's a feature designed to help advisors quickly identify students who may need immediate attention.

The Academic Priority feature evaluates multiple factors and assigns a risk level. Those factors can be anything set by the institution. As new information becomes available throughout the semester, such as grades, attendance data, or LMS quiz scores, etc, the Academic Priority automatically updates.

This allows advisors to:

• Focus on the students who need help most
• Identify emerging concerns sooner
• Manage large caseloads more effectively
• Make more informed intervention decisions

Turning Data Into Student Success

Proactive advising works best when advisors have timely, actionable information. FlightPath combines degree planning, Early Alerts, Academic Priority, reports, and analytics to help institutions identify risk factors and support students before they fall too far behind.

By helping advisors focus their efforts where they can have the greatest impact, proactive advising can improve student retention, strengthen student success, and create a clearer path to graduation.

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