Dive Brief:
- Campus Technology reports on a new survey suggesting more than 70% of college students favor their campuses using their personal data to improve experiences in academic progress, student services and extracurricular activities.
- More than 80% of student respondents believe the college experience will change over the course of the next decade through the use of personal data and technology, and more than 95% of students believe the the campus social experience can be enhanced by data collection.
- More than 40% of students believe that personal data cultivation can help in their choices about extracurricular activities, academic advisement and service in places like the bookstore.
Dive Insight:
Because a vast majority of students believe that institutions already capture the data, it makes sense that they would want the data to be used to enhance services and experiences which match costs and in-depth looks into private information. But it is incumbent upon college leaders to be transparent with how the data is used, which personnel have access to it, and how it is protected from potential breaches.
While data can reveals trends for positive outcomes in retention and engagement, allowing it to fall into the hands of marketers or unwanted third parties can damage a school's reputation, and open the doors to potential litigation.