Quality advising plays an important role in supporting retention and graduation initiatives, but turnover among academic advisors is higher than for other university staff positions (Brantley & Shomaker, 2021; Elliott, 2020). Given high advisor turnover and the central role academic advisors play in supporting student success, there is a need to explore why advisors leave the profession and what institutions might do to retain them. Fifty-six former academic advisors completed a survey regarding the reasons they left the profession. The top two reasons advisors left the profession were low pay and a desire for a better work environment. Based on the survey results, the authors make recommendations to institutions on how to retain advisors.

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