BOSTON, Aug. 14, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, Tyton Partners, a strategy consulting and investment banking firm focused on the education sector, released Driving Toward a Degree 2025: Delivering Value and Ensuring Viability. With anchor support from Lumina Foundation, this national study, first launched in 2015, examines how institutions are responding to unprecedented financial pressures, persistent skepticism about the return on investment of a college degree, and longstanding challenges in advising and student support.

The report draws on surveys of over 3,000 students, advisors, faculty, and administrators from more than 825 U.S. institutions. It finds that declining enrollments, new federal accountability measures, and staffing shortages are reshaping how colleges prioritize and deliver support services, often with limited resources.

Key findings from the 2025 study include:

• Financial pressures intensify: Nearly 40% of four-year public institutions anticipate budget cuts to student support services over the next three years, while staffing shortages are pushing more than 70% of large and public institutions to increase advisor caseloads, despite high caseloads being the top barrier to effective advising.
• Career readiness as a value driver: Only 30% of staff at private four-year institutions strongly agree their institution is worth the cost, compared to ~70% at community colleges. This belief in their college’s value is directly predicted by the extent to which both students and staff believe their college prepares students for career success.
• Student engagement remains low: Less than half of students are aware of academic advising, and only 29% report using it, though almost all institutions offer it. Institutions that have reduced identity-based programming are significantly less likely to feel they are supporting a strong sense of belonging for all students.
• Generative AI adoption lags: While 30% of students pay for generative AI tools to support their studies, just 10% of frontline staff use them for job-related tasks, and only 3% use AI features in advising technologies—often due to distrust, lack of training, and poor system integration.

“Student success is no longer just a support function; it’s a core strategic priority,” said Dan Brennan, Driving Toward a Degree 2025 project manager at Tyton Partners. “Institutions that integrate career readiness, leverage technology thoughtfully, and sustain human-centered advising will be best positioned to thrive in today’s challenging environment.”

Catherine Shaw, Managing Director at Tyton Partners, added, “This year’s research makes clear that the institutions that will succeed are those that adapt with intention, aligning policies, programs, and support services to the evolving needs and expectations of today’s students.”

By combining actionable data with sector-specific recommendations, Driving Toward a Degree 2025 offers institutional leaders and solution providers a roadmap to reimagine support systems that are career-aligned, data-informed, and designed to meet the needs of today’s student population.

Additional research support for Driving Toward a Degree 2025 was provided by Mentor Collective, NACADA, QuadC, Stellic, and UERU.

Read Driving Toward a Degree 2025 here.

About Tyton Partners

Tyton Partners is the leading provider of strategy consulting and investment banking services to the global knowledge and information services sector. With offices in Boston and New York City, the firm has an experienced team of bankers and consultants who deliver a unique spectrum of services from mergers and acquisitions and capital markets access to strategy development that helps companies, organizations, and investors navigate the complexities of the education, media, and information markets. Tyton Partners leverages a deep foundation of transactional and advisory experience and an unparalleled level of global relationships to make its clients’ aspirations a reality and to catalyze innovation in the sector. Learn more at tytonpartners.com.

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