Using Data to Increase Student Success

APLU Impact

• Created 14 case studies highlighting how higher education institutions are using student-level data to drive gains in student success.
• Elevating the importance of developing a robust campus data infrastructure to track student progress and eliminate barriers to college completion.

APLU and the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) developed a series of 14 case studies from leading colleges, universities, and systems to highlight how higher education institutions are driving progress on campus through the effective use of student-level data. The series spotlights the importance of student-level data in the development and implementation of programs and strategies to improve student learning and increase degree completion.

Institutions’ use of more sophisticated data comes at a time when student bodies are continuing to evolve and shift away from being mostly traditional, first-time, full-time students who just graduated high school. More than a quarter of college students are between the ages of 22 and 29 and another fifth are 30 or older. Additionally, more than 25 percent of college students have children. Two thirds of community college students attend part-time. And approximately 70 percent of students work while in school. The need to better understand the progress, roadblocks, and paths to success for these students is critical.

Each case study describes how the institution or system turned student data into actionable information and tools that improved student decisions and outcomes. Institutions have used student data to: create a campus culture of data use and institutional improvement; develop free, online tools to provide personalized assistance for students; deliver critical information to faculty, staff, and the students themselves; diagnose barriers to student progress; implement an alternative test-optional admission process; and more.

Click on the links below to read each institution’s case study.

• Colorado State University
• Florida International University
• Georgia State University
• Miami Dade College
• Middle Tennessee State University
• Morgan State University
• Ohio University
• Temple University
• Tennessee Board of Regents
• University at Buffalo
• University of Michigan
• University of South Florida
• University of Texas at El Paso
• University of Texas System