In the midst of fierce competition amongst higher education institutions and uncertainty caused by the pandemic, making good use of advanced analytics tools is more important than ever. Robust analytics based on an accurate, scalable and intelligent framework can help colleges and universities make precise enrollment predictions, better manage their resources, boost revenues, and more.
Transforming Data into Knowledge
Institutions have copious amounts of data. In some cases, the data is excellent, readily available and digestible by stakeholders. However, in many cases, the data is poor, resulting in unreliable analytics and an impediment to decision making.
The use of digital technology can turn this collection of data into a powerful predictive tool, which helps institutions devise strategic plans, make effective decisions, realize operational efficiencies, capitalize on cost savings, and increase enrollment. Read on to learn four strategies for using data analytics to improve your outcomes.
1. Harness Predictive Analytics to Make Accurate and Informed Enrollment Decisions
By analyzing and using data effectively, institutions can predict the probability of enrollment based on demographic information, interests and more, and then make decisions or develop strategies accordingly. One way to do this is to use data analysis to find out the ‘affinity scores’ of those who made campus visits. Data showing how prospective students engage with an institution – website activity, and interaction on institutions’ social media, among other factors – can be analyzed to determine how likely (affinity score) a student is to accept admission if extended acceptance. Another strategy is to develop a predictive enrollment model by analyzing high school and admission statistics. Based on this model, institutions can target different segments of potential applicants to meet them where they are and improve the odds that they follow through with a completed application.
2. Optimize Student Admissions Outreach
Through predictive analytics, higher ed institutions can specify their admission scope and reach out more efficiently to the greatest number of relevant potential applicants. Some institutions compile the demographic data of the potential applicants who made campus visits. Since those who made campus visits are more likely to enroll, admissions can reach out to them more effectively by providing them with personalized campus tour programs. This approach relies on integrated, up-to-date advanced analytics tools to pull and parse information seamlessly.
3. Enable New Ways to Engage Current and Prospective Students
Data analytics can assist institutions in refining their marketing demographics or targets. For example, demographic analysis has helped institutions to allocate their counselors where they will see the most traffic and serve the greatest use. Here, schools can focus their marketing on the most responsive set of applicants. Moreover, data analytics helps leaders pay attention to their student’s financial and academic needs and make decisions accordingly to support those needs and alleviate stress from students, leading to a more favorable relationship that spurs future engagement.
4. Boost Faculty Productivity and Research Opportunities
Research universities or colleges can use data analytics to boost faculty productivity. The analytics can help faculty to effectively collect, classify and interpret their data and, in doing so, make scientifically accurate conclusions about curriculum designs, course sequencing, faculty hiring, tutoring, and more. In addition, data analytics can assist faculties and students in mapping out the scope and kinds of research that is already done and identify novel research opportunities.
Utilizing Analytics to Improve Outcomes
Becoming a data-driven organization can have countless benefits, including improved enrollment, reduced operational costs and increased revenue. The professionals at Hartman Executive Advisors help higher education institutions to establish a data strategy and robust framework for data collection that can help them make efficient and effective decisions in real-time. Reach out to schedule a meeting to learn more about how we’ve helped organizations like yours leverage data to drive their business.