How to Measure and Improve Student Success in Higher Education

Measuring student success is a complex process that goes far beyond test scores and grades. Institutions must use data and analytics to establish a bespoke definition of success and then design programs of support to ensure that students meet their goals.

“What’s your GPA?” It’s a simple question, but the answer offers a one-dimensional metric that doesn’t really tell us much about the whole student or their potential for future success. A more holistic approach to defining success is the best way you can ensure that your institution is meeting the needs of students, faculty, and graduates to produce positive outcomes. Data and analysis should drive this process, helping you to design effective and targeted strategies to support students on their academic and professional journeys..

Enrollify has put together a list of the most effective metrics and strategies to help you design your own programs for measuring and supporting success.

What Does Student Success Mean in Today’s Educational Landscape?

While everyone loves stories of seemingly average students–such as Einstein and Steve Jobs–who went on to prove their genius, grades and test scores have been the only accepted ways of measuring student success until recently. But in today's educational landscape, these metrics offer too narrow a lens to capture all the ways in which students can demonstrate achievement and potential.

By taking a whole-student approach to measuring student success, you can ensure that you’re producing graduates with the skills and adaptability to negotiate a complex job marketplace. A broader view of success also allows teachers to develop effective instructional strategies and gives students more options for evaluating their own strengths and weaknesses. The first step is to identify the metrics that you’ll use to measure success, and then focus on the strategies to improve student outcomes.

Key Metrics to Measure Student Success

Once you’ve made the decision to think beyond tests and grades, how do you measure student success? You’ll need to come up with a combination of quantitative and qualitative metrics that can give you a more complete view of success. This list should be dynamic, one that you are constantly refining and improving as you gather more data.

Track these metrics across an individual student’s career and through multiple cohorts. This will give you a better idea how your definition of success aligns with the goals of your institution, as well as those of your students and faculty.

• Retention Rates
  The retention rate is a good barometer of how much students feel supported and engaged. You may lose students who don’t feel academically and financially secure, socially connected, and equipped to overcome challenges. Significant attrition can mean a misalignment of students’ expectations and their actual experiences on campus and in the classroom. It’s vital that you identify where these breakdowns occur. That said, always view retention rates in context, taking into account any external factors, such as economic conditions, that may play a role.
  
  
• Graduation Rates
  The goal of every student who enters college is to get a diploma, so graduation rate is an important indicator of how well your institution provides pathways that ensure success. Measuring how graduation rates vary across racial, economic, and demographic lines will help you design support services and financial aid programs that can help every type of hopeful graduate.

• Time to Completion
  As of 2022, more than 22% of students earning a bachelor’s degree take more than four years. Analyze the causes of these longer paths to graduation, so you can identify the institutional or student challenges that are delaying completion. You want to not only streamline the path to graduation, but also provide support to ensure that students on a longer path make it to the finish line.

• Post-Graduation Employment Rate
  More than ever, incoming students are focused on programs that give them the best chance for a successful career. Tracking the post-graduation employment rate will help ensure your academic programs are relevant to the current marketplace and your graduates are ready to meet the needs of employers. An institution whose graduates are in high demand will attract more applicants.

• Academic Performance (GPA)
  GPA is a fairly blunt instrument for measuring academic performance because it doesn’t measure improvement over time. While a high GPA indicates high achievement, a lower GPA may reflect early struggles that a student has overcome. AI-driven Grade Point Trajectory (GPT) is a more dynamic measure of a student's academic journey, which considers their progress and growth throughout their academic career. The promise of GPT is a more equitable application process, which will help you identify students who have overcome obstacles and have strong achievement potential.
  
  
• Student Support Services Utilization
  Track the use of counseling, tutoring, and other services, so you can determine how well you’re meeting the needs of students and supporting their progress. If students are taking advantage of these services, it is a sign that they’re invested in their own success and willing to proactively address any challenges.

• Qualitative Feedback
  Numbers and data can’t fully represent the experiences of students, so you must solicit personal feedback. Surveys, focus groups, and student surveys will broaden your understanding of the student experience and put some flesh on the bones of the quantitative data.

Strategies to Improve Student Success

Once you’ve established which metrics you will track and analyze, use these practical strategies to drive improvement.

• Holistic Academic Advising
  Holistic advising focuses on more than just academics, taking into account the whole student and identifying and addressing barriers—financial, personal, health—that may be limiting their performance. Tailoring advice to the specific needs of each student can head off problems before they occur and help your students navigate the path to graduation more smoothly.
  
  
• Engaged Learning Practices
  It’s well established that applying classroom knowledge to real-world problems leads to a deeper comprehension and retention of the material. By working on projects, inside or outside the classroom, students learn to collaborate with others, solve complex problems, and think on their feet. Encourage your institution to incorporate these learning practices to boost student learning—and your success metrics.

• Goal Setting + Tracking
  College students face a seemingly endless series of day-to-day tasks and commitments. Sometimes, it is difficult for them to see the larger picture, so helping students set short- and long-term goals is an effective way to keep them focused. Progress-tracking tools make it easier for students to stay on track, too.

• Data Analytics + Reporting
  Analysis and regular reporting of student data are keys to heading off problems before they become critical. Use data to identify early warning signs of a struggling student, which will enable you to tailor interventions that will have the most positive impact. Schools are using AI tools for student success more and more to flag and intervene on behalf of struggling students.

• Positive Learning Environment
  Students who are stressed or uncomfortable do not perform well. Invest in inclusion policies and establish safe spaces that contribute to a more positive learning environment. Use data, needs assessments, and student feedback to determine if these initiatives meet the needs of your community.
  
  
• Early Intervention Programs
  The earlier you identify students who are struggling academically or socially, the better you can support them and ensure they get back on track. Early intervention programs play a big role in improving retention and graduation rates. For instance, a direct admissions program can attract students whose progress may be derailed by the stress of the application process.

• Career Development Services
  Rather than waiting until senior year, make career counseling an ongoing component of academic advising. Better preparation for the job market will position your students for success after graduation.
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• ‍Peer Mentoring Programs
  ‍The college experience can be scary and isolating, especially for first-year students. Peer-to-peer mentoring can help first years build connections to the wider community and make the transition to college life easier.

Important Considerations When Measuring Success

As you determine how to measure student success and improve outcomes, make sure your model is dynamic and adaptable, so you can incorporate new data and new approaches. The most effective way to do this is to maintain ongoing conversations with both students and staff about their observations.

Regularly assess your own definitions of success and strategies to ensure they are aligned with real-world conditions, too, for the job market or graduate education. Here are a few areas to consider when creating your measurement framework:

• Student Population Analysis
  As you design the set of metrics you’ll use for student success, make sure it’s informed by a clear understanding of your school’s student demographics. Gather data such as socio-economic status, the number of first-generation students, countries of origin, native languages, and desired career goals. Customize your programs to best track and support specific communities within your student body.
  
  
• Qualitative Feedback
  To ensure that you’re constantly refining both measurement and action, don’t neglect to collect student feedback regularly. One easy example: if students tell you that operating hours of tutoring centers don’t match their schedules, you can make adjustments to lower barriers to these valuable services.

• Continuous Improvement
  Defining student success isn’t a set-it-and-forget it proposition. Your goal for both measurement and support should be continuous improvement, so it’s vital that you frequently assess all parts of your system to see where you can adjust and improve outcomes.

Conclusion

The definition of student success is a constantly moving target that involves much more than academic factors such as GPA. Taking a proactive, data-driven approach—and regularly re-evaluating your strategies—to ensure that you’re able to adapt to changes in the student body, the campus environment, and the post-college landscape to support your students in the best possible way.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):

How do you measure learning success?

There’s no single metric that captures learning success, so you must take a more holistic approach to evaluating student performance. Only by taking into consideration a variety of metrics that capture a student’s trajectory over time can you effectively assess their achievement and potential.

What is the biggest factor in student success?

Aligning institutional and student goals is the biggest factor in student success. You need to meet students where they are and use data and analytics to support their journey in meaningful ways.