At the beginning of the 21^st century, higher education in the United States faces many challenges, including changing student demographics, advancing technologies, shrinking resources, and declining public confidence (Nesheim, Guentzel, Kellogg, McDonald, Wells, & Whitt, 2007). For many years, postsecondary reform agendas have beckoned colleges and universities to focus intentionally on undergraduate learning and success to address these challenges (American College Personnel Association [ACPA], 1994; Boyer Commission on educating undergraduates in the Research University, 1998). Colleges and universities encourage increased enrollment of students in higher education institutions. The resulting increase in student populations at institutions of higher education has likely influenced a dramatic need for advising services. Due to the increasing populations of students, more scholarly demands of faculty, and the more time-consuming efforts needed for advising, universities have sought alternative methods to provide advising services for students. In the past, faculty members have served as the student's official academic advisor. Yet, as the number of students has increased and as advising has become a more time consuming process; there has been a shift to professional academic advisors who provide generalized advising to large numbers of students who are either majors or pre-majors.

The study took place at a public university in the Southeastern United States. The problem of this study addressed the perceptions of student's academic advising at the sophomore level and then later at the senior level. This study examined the effectiveness of the faculty advising delivery system and the professional advising delivery system as perceived by sophomore and senior level students and will provide insight for educational leaders in designing future academic advising initiatives related to retention and student growth. The results of the Sophomore Survey and Senior Survey indicated that seniors had a more positive evaluation of advising than sophomores. Those with professional advising had a better perception of advising than did those with faculty advising. Women were more likely than men to have been advised professionally when the variable of gender was included. The perception of advising was more favorable with high birth years (younger students).