Essential Data for Student Support and Retention

This white paper presents findings from a survey conducted by Anthology among higher education professionals regarding critical data types for effective student outreach and retention. The paper identifies five key categories of data: Academic Engagement Data, Students’ Characteristics, Non-Cognitive Data, Faculty/Staff Observations and Reported Alerts, and Co-Curricular Involvement Data. It outlines how these data types can be leveraged by advisors to enhance student support initiatives and address challenges faced without access to these insights. The survey results indicate that Academic Engagement Data is deemed the most crucial by 45% of respondents, followed by Students’ Characteristics at 39%. The document further discusses the implementation of data-driven outreach strategies and the benefits of such systems, including improved retention rates and enhanced advisor-student relationships. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of prioritizing access to these data types to foster a holistic approach to student development and success.