Analyze This: Using Data to Improve Student Success

More colleges and universities are using information about students’ backgrounds and past experiences to stop bad academic habits before they begin. It’s called predictive analytics, and its potential has higher-education reformers excited. By looking at trends among students with similar characteristics, some colleges have steered students toward positive behaviors like declaring a major early, meeting with mentors, or going online to look at homework material. But data-privacy experts and skeptics say data breaches and unclear intentions could color this fast-moving trend. Learn about the ethics, possible gains and past pitfalls of predictive analytics.

• Frederick Corey, Arizona State University
• Brenda Leong, Future of Privacy Forum
• Mark Milliron, Civitas Learning
• Carrie Wells, Baltimore Sun (moderator)