Understanding What "Success" Really Looks Like: How Analytics Can Define and Support Student Success in Higher Education

In higher education, it’s widely understood that student success and institutional success go hand-in-hand. As a result, colleges and universities spend countless dollars trying to support students on the journey toward achieving their degrees.But are these attempts working? What does student success really look like? And what barriers might be preventing students from succeeding in a specific institution? To ensure they’re making the best spending decisions and allocating limited resources in the most effective ways possible, colleges and universities require a means to measure student success and institutional opportunities – and that’s where analytics come in.
Before colleges and universities can begin to address student challenges, they need to first define student success. Some common measures include:

• Retention/graduation rates. Uncovering relationships between these numbers and other data can reveal significant opportunities for improvement in student support.
• Academic performance. Comparisons of these measures can reveal areas where students may require additional help or where the institution might need to adjust its methods or class structures.
• Time to completion. A deeper understanding of the factors impacting completion times can help institutions align their planning, spending, and timing around specific course offerings.