Dive Brief:
- Instead of focusing solely on the metrics that lead to student failure, some institutions have turned their research tools to the other end of the spectrum — students at the top.
- University Business reports that these colleges and universities are creating profiles of success, from which they can parse out the strategies that contribute to it and help all students improve their outcomes.
- Lasell College in Massachusetts discovered incoming students with high GPAs and low test scores were more likely to succeed than students with low GPAs and high test scores, and students who meet with advisors most often have higher retention rates.
Dive Insight:
Using data analytics to parse out the keys to student success is becoming more common in higher ed, especially where state funding is tied to student outcomes. Legislatures have shifted from rewarding higher education institutions for creating access, by doling out state funding based on enrollment, to rewarding them for fostering success, factoring in student outcomes to their funding decisions.
Purdue created an early warning system called Course Signals to alert students in danger of falling off track as soon as the second week. Administrators recognize that letting a student wait until he or she sees the first graded assignment may be too late.