The Globe and Mail reported on universities which look to big data analysis to learn which students are most at risk of dropping out.
A pilot program at UBC aims to connect the academic data about incoming student with their participation in extracurricular programs, their grades, and their post-graduation employment. The school found that international students were less likely to graduate than domestic students.
“We had $25-million of lost revenue because there was a 10-point [percentage] difference,” said Gage Averill, UBC’s dean of arts. “It was an eye opener to look at all the frenetic energy we were putting into developing revenues elsewhere, when in fact $25-million was sitting on the table if we could help these students.”
