Dive Brief:
- Florida-based Copley Retention Services received a major capital injection from wealthy sports team owners Mark Cuban and Tom DiBenedetto as well as USA Funds.
- The $1.5 million investment will be used to methodically expand the reach of Copley’s early warning system, which measures student activity against a couple dozen indicators and flags at-risk students for counselors.
- The system gives colleges a way to integrate disparate data systems and make predictive analyses about students, generating additional tuition dollars from students who can be put back on track toward graduation.
Dive Insight:
Retention-focused analytics systems are becoming increasingly sought after by colleges hoping to increase the portion of students sticking with their degree programs through completion. In some ways, this is a recognition of the lost revenue that low completion rates represent. In others, it is a strategy to protect state funding that is tied to student performance. Prospective students and their families are being encouraged to focus on graduation rates when considering whether schools are worth the tuition dollars. To stay competitive, colleges and universities will have to prove not only that they provide a world-class education, but also that their students, in large numbers, make it to graduation.