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Effect of Academic Advising Services on Students’ Retention in Accounting Education Programmes in Nigerian Universities

Abstract

Student retention is an important concern in higher education because continued enrolment enables students to complete their programmes and acquire the academic and professional competencies required for future employment. In Accounting Education programmes, students may encounter academic difficulties, demanding accounting courses, challenges in course selection, poor study planning, adjustment difficulties, financial pressures, and uncertainty regarding academic progression, which may contribute to withdrawal, suspension, or discontinuation of studies. Academic advising services provide students with structured academic guidance concerning course registration, programme requirements, academic planning, study strategies, progression requirements, academic difficulties, career-related academic choices, and available institutional support. Effective academic advising may help students understand programme expectations, make appropriate academic decisions, address academic challenges early, and remain engaged with their programmes. However, inadequate availability of academic advisers, large student populations, irregular advising sessions, limited adviser-student interaction, poor follow-up, and insufficient awareness of advising services may limit their effectiveness in Nigerian universities. Against this background, this study investigates the effect of Academic Advising Services on students’ retention in Accounting Education programmes in Nigerian universities. The study will be anchored on Social Support Theory, Student Integration Theory, and Tinto’s Student Retention Theory. Social Support Theory explains how academic guidance, encouragement, interpersonal support, and institutional assistance may help students cope with academic challenges and remain engaged in their programmes. Student Integration Theory emphasizes the importance of students’ academic and social integration into the university environment in influencing persistence and continued enrolment. Tinto’s Student Retention Theory explains how students’ academic experiences, institutional interaction, commitment, and integration may influence their decision to persist or withdraw from higher education. Collectively, these theoretical perspectives provide a suitable framework for explaining how Academic Advising Services may influence student retention in Accounting Education programmes. The study will adopt a quantitative analytical cross-sectional or quasi-experimental research design. The population will comprise students enrolled in Accounting Education programmes in selected Nigerian universities. A multistage sampling technique will be used to select geopolitical zones, states, universities, faculties or departments, levels of study, and eligible students. Academic Advising Services will be assessed using indicators such as availability of academic advisers, accessibility of advisers, frequency of advising sessions, individual advising, group advising, academic counselling, course-registration guidance, programme-requirement guidance, course-selection guidance, academic-planning assistance, study-skills guidance, examination guidance, academic-progress monitoring, identification of students experiencing academic difficulties, early academic intervention, referral to appropriate university support services, career-related academic guidance, adviser-student communication, responsiveness of advisers, quality of academic information provided, confidentiality, follow-up activities, orientation to programme requirements, graduation-planning assistance, academic-warning support, student engagement with advising services, and students’ satisfaction with academic advising. Student retention will be assessed using indicators such as continued enrolment, semester-to-semester persistence, academic-year persistence, progression to the next level, intention to remain in the programme, intention to complete the programme, programme continuation, absence of withdrawal, absence of transfer from the programme, academic persistence, timely registration, course completion, credit accumulation, and programme completion intention. Data will be collected using structured questionnaires, academic advising service assessment scales, student retention scales, university enrolment records where available, academic progression records, course-registration records, and relevant departmental documents. Descriptive statistics will be used to summarize students’ demographic and academic characteristics, exposure to academic advising services, utilization patterns, satisfaction levels, and retention-related indicators. Inferential statistical techniques, including chi-square tests, t-tests, correlation analysis, logistic regression, and multiple regression analysis where appropriate, will be used to determine the effect of Academic Advising Services on students’ retention. Where a quasi-experimental design is adopted, retention-related outcomes before and after participation in structured academic advising may be compared with those of a comparison group receiving routine academic support. Diagnostic tests will also be conducted to assess the reliability, validity, and robustness of the findings. The study is expected to find that Academic Advising Services have a significant positive effect on students’ retention in Accounting Education programmes in Nigerian universities. Students who have regular access to effective academic advising are expected to demonstrate a greater likelihood of remaining enrolled and progressing through their programmes than students with limited access to advising services. The availability of academic advisers may improve students’ access to timely academic guidance. Adviser accessibility may enable students to obtain assistance when academic challenges arise. Regular advising sessions may provide opportunities for students to discuss their academic progress and difficulties. Individual advising may allow advisers to provide guidance based on students’ specific academic needs. Group advising may provide students with information concerning common programme requirements and academic expectations. Academic counselling may help students address challenges that could negatively affect persistence. Course-registration guidance may reduce registration errors and inappropriate course combinations. Programme-requirement guidance may improve students’ understanding of the courses and credits required for progression and graduation. Course-selection guidance may help students make appropriate academic choices. Academic-planning assistance may improve students’ ability to organize their academic workload. Study-skills guidance may strengthen students’ approaches to learning and preparation for accounting courses. Examination guidance may improve students’ preparation for assessments. Academic-progress monitoring may help advisers identify students who are experiencing difficulties. Early identification of academic problems may provide opportunities for timely intervention before challenges become severe. Referral to appropriate university support services may connect students with additional assistance when academic difficulties are associated with other institutional or personal challenges. Career-related academic guidance may help students understand the relationship between their academic choices and future professional opportunities. Adviser-student communication may improve students’ access to relevant academic information. Responsive advisers may encourage students to seek assistance when needed. Accurate academic information may reduce uncertainty regarding programme requirements. Confidential advising may encourage students to discuss academic difficulties openly. Follow-up activities may enable advisers to monitor whether students have benefited from earlier interventions. Orientation to programme requirements may help newly admitted students understand expectations from the beginning of their studies. Graduation-planning assistance may help students monitor their progress toward completion. Academic-warning support may provide early assistance to students experiencing poor academic performance. Student engagement with advising services may strengthen interaction between students and their institutions. Satisfaction with advising services may increase students’ perception that the university provides adequate academic support. Continued enrolment may improve when students receive timely guidance and support. Semester-to-semester persistence may be strengthened when students are able to address academic challenges before they lead to withdrawal. Academic-year persistence may improve through continuous academic monitoring. Progression to the next level may be supported by appropriate course planning and academic guidance. Students’ intention to remain in the programme may increase when they feel academically supported. Students’ intention to complete the programme may improve when graduation requirements are clearly understood. Programme continuation may be encouraged by effective adviser-student relationships. Reduced withdrawal may result when academic problems are identified and addressed early. Reduced programme transfer may occur when students receive guidance concerning course difficulties and programme expectations. Academic persistence may improve through continuous academic support. Timely registration may reduce administrative difficulties that could interfere with students’ progression. Course completion may be supported by appropriate academic planning. Credit accumulation may improve when students understand their programme requirements and progression pathways. However, the effectiveness of Academic Advising Services may be constrained by inadequate numbers of academic advisers, large student populations, limited adviser availability, irregular advising sessions, insufficient training of advisers, poor adviser-student communication, inadequate office facilities, weak monitoring systems, limited follow-up, poor documentation of advising activities, students’ low awareness of advising services, students’ reluctance to seek academic assistance, inconsistent institutional support, limited integration of advising with departmental academic systems, and inadequate resources for student-support programmes. The study therefore expects accessible, regular, student-centred, responsive, confidential, well-coordinated, and adequately supervised Academic Advising Services to contribute significantly to improved retention among students in Accounting Education programmes in Nigerian universities. The study is expected to contribute to the literature on Academic Advising Services, student retention, Accounting Education, higher education, academic counselling, student persistence, academic progression, programme completion, student support services, academic planning, course registration, academic performance support, adviser-student interaction, student engagement, university retention, and educational development in Nigeria. The findings will provide useful information to the National Universities Commission, university administrators, faculties of education, Accounting Education departments, academic advisers, student-affairs units, counselling centres, curriculum developers, lecturers, student-support personnel, and policymakers regarding strategies for improving student persistence and completion in Accounting Education programmes. The study will also provide evidence-based recommendations for strengthening academic advising structures in Nigerian universities, increasing the availability and accessibility of academic advisers, providing regular advising sessions, improving adviser training, integrating academic advising with student-progress monitoring systems, strengthening early identification and intervention for academically vulnerable students, improving adviser-student communication and follow-up, increasing students’ awareness and utilization of advising services, and developing effective academic-support systems that promote continued enrolment and successful completion of Accounting Education programmes in Nigeria.

Keywords: Academic Advising Services, student retention, Accounting Education programmes, student persistence, academic advising, academic counselling, academic progression, programme completion, student support services, university education, Nigerian universities, Nigeria.