Require advising at credit milestones and enforce it with a registration hold

Advising at set credit milestones, with a hold that blocks registration until the appointment happens. In the one study that compares colleges on this, it is the practice that tracks most consistently with above-average transfer performance.

Advising capacity sized to the caseload the hold creates, and a student information system that can set and release holds automatically.

Director of Academic Advising at the sending institution

One institution alone

Medium, 6 months to first visible effect

Share of students advised at each milestone; credits applying to the intended major

Enforced without added capacity it creates registration bottlenecks and staff burnout. One college in the same study cut its rule back from 30 credit hours to 18 after complaints. Another found nominally mandatory advising had no consequence for non-attendance, so it did nothing.

Do not implement without the staffing; the failure mode above is the documented outcome