Report Findings on Higher Ed Challenges: ROI, Career Readiness, and Student Support

The Tyton Partners Driving Toward a Degree survey is always an insightful pulse check on the state of student success in higher education. This year’s findings struck a particular chord with us. They highlight the realities many institutions are wrestling with right now—shrinking budgets, heightened expectations, and students demanding more clarity about their futures. Over the past few decades, rising costs and financial strain have intensified, adding to the higher ed challenges faced as institutions strive to adapt and remain sustainable.

As we read through the survey, three themes stood out:

“Do more with less.” It’s a phrase that echoes across campuses today. Budgets are frozen, staff positions are being cut, and yet expectations from students and administrators keep climbing. That reality leaves advisors, faculty, and staff stretched thin, often at the expense of their own well-being.

The ripple effects are profound. Research funding cuts slow down critical projects and jeopardize graduate training. And with student loan debt hovering around $30,000, students and families want proof that a degree is worth it. Institutions are expected to deliver more value with fewer people and fewer dollars. As digital transformation accelerates, higher education faces new challenges that require creative solutions to improve student outcomes and adapt to changing demands.

One small but meaningful way forward is ensuring that students have clarity. When students know what’s expected of them—what classes to take, what milestones to hit—they’re more likely to persist. Clear, data-informed pathways reduce the burden on advisors and give students a sense of direction, which matters more than ever when higher education institutions can’t afford to lose a single learner.

The survey also makes it clear that career readiness has moved from the margins to the center. For years, career services were treated like a side office—something you visited if you happened to think of it. But that model doesn’t work anymore. Students and their families expect a degree to connect clearly to the workforce. Evolving student expectations are driving changes in degree programs and shifting the value placed on the traditional four year degree, prompting institutions to rethink how they prepare graduates for the job market.

Forward-thinking institutions are reimagining career development not as job placement, but as life design. We’ve seen examples where design thinking, alumni networks, and experiential learning opportunities become the backbone of career support. When done well, this kind of work not only improves satisfaction, it gives students confidence in the ROI of their education. As a result, trade schools and other nontraditional pathways are gaining popularity as alternatives to traditional four year degree programs, offering more targeted and flexible options for career preparation.

The key insight here: academic advising and career advising shouldn’t live in silos. They’re two sides of the same coin. Students need both to understand who they are intellectually and how they’ll express those talents in the world. Bringing those conversations closer together could be one of the most impactful shifts higher education makes in the next few years. Additionally, financial aid plays a crucial role in supporting students' access to career readiness resources and ensuring equitable opportunities for all.

Finally, coordination—or the lack thereof—remains a perennial higher ed challenge. Students often describe the “duck syndrome”: looking calm on the surface while paddling furiously underneath. Support is out there, but fragmented. One-stop shops and enrollment management structures help, but too often, students are still left to stitch together services on their own. To manage these challenges, students create personalized plans to balance their academic, extracurricular, and personal commitments—including intercollegiate athletics—which requires proactive planning and support.

On top of that, compliance structures like FERPA make information-sharing complicated. Faculty, advisors, and staff may each see just one slice of a student’s reality, without the full picture. That’s where frustration builds for students who feel invisible, and for staff who feel powerless to connect the dots.

The opportunity lies in building systems that quietly coordinate behind the scenes. Tools and processes that make it easier for the right people to see the right information, without adding to the administrative burden. When coordination improves, students are more willing to seek help, and staff are better equipped to provide it. Leveraging institutional resources can further enhance holistic and effective support for students.

Taken together, these themes paint a picture of a sector under strain but also on the cusp of meaningful change. Institutions are being asked to do more with less, to embed career readiness into the core of the student experience, and to coordinate supports in ways that feel seamless rather than siloed. These aren’t small shifts—they require rethinking how advising, data, and student services work together.

Stellic is working with our partner institutions to address these themes on their campuses. By giving students a clear map of their academic journey, connecting advising and career planning in one place, and integrating data that is often scattered across multiple systems, Stellic helps tackle these higher ed challenges head-on. The result is less time spent on transactional tasks, more energy for developmental advising, and stronger outcomes for students who feel both supported and confident in the value of their degree.

In a moment where the higher education system must prove its worth, tools like Stellic offer a way forward: ensuring that every student knows where they’re headed, and every advisor and counselor has the insight they need to get them there.