To Avoid Nasty Surprises, Higher Ed Turns To Prediction

Lots of mainstream businesses are graduating from rearview-mirror reporting to more advanced, predictive analytics, so it’s no surprise that colleges and universities are making the same progress.

The goal, of course, is to figure out what’s coming. You know how many students enrolled last fall, but did you accurately forecast how many freshmen would drop out after the first semester? Can you anticipate what revenue will look like next fall? How many dorm rooms, classrooms and dining halls will your college need five years from now? These are just a few examples of the data-driven analyses taking place in higher ed.

The move to analytics comes as colleges and universities face declining enrollments. Nearly half of colleges and universities responding to a recent survey by Moody’s Investors Service said they expect enrollment of full-time students to decline. As a result, a third of them expect tuition revenue to decline or to grow at less than the inflation rate.

Doug Henschen

Full Story: http://www.informationweek.com/education/data-management/to-avoid-nasty-surprises-higher-ed-turns/240146949

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