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In recent years, tertiary education institutions have faced multiple crises: the impact of the pandemic, the growing importance of informal online education, and a general rise in scepticism regarding further education. Enrollment numbers across the board are down. Gen Z, in particular, is unsure of the value of further education. Their interest in pursuing a continuing degree has declined from 71% in 2020 to 50% in 2022.
If tertiary education providers want to attract future students and remain competitive, they have to provide an exceptional environment, tailored to their students’ needs. Investing in student experience has to become a key part of their overall institutional strategy.
40% of Bachelor students don’t graduate within their first six years, leading to a decrease in financial security and overall life satisfaction. Research shows that student experience plays a vital role in determining whether students drop out or complete their degree.
Institutions that prioritise student engagement, success and satisfaction can expect to see significant returns in terms of improved academic performance, higher student retention rates, and further study.
However, measuring the return on investment (ROI) of student experience strategies can be challenging. Read on to learn more about the tools and metrics that institutions can use to evaluate the effectiveness of their student experience strategies and ensure desired outcomes.
Student experience touches upon almost all aspects of an educational institution, including curricular, co-curricular and extra-curricular activities, and encompasses the whole student journey from enrolment to graduation. Research demonstrates that high-quality, evidence-based programs can lead to better academic results and emotional adjustment, increased attendance, and improved graduation rates. A strategy to enhance and support student experience is vital because a better student experience ensures:
Institutions approach changes and improvements to their student experience differently. Whatever the method, enhancing student experience has to be part of a long-term strategy that is continuously evaluated and optimised. For this, institutions need reliable and valuable data.
How can institutions ensure that their student experience strategies work? Measuring the ROI of student experience interventions is an important tool to ensure that strategies are aligned and deliver results.
Measuring the ROI of student experience strategies requires a combination of quantitative and qualitative data. Institutions need to collect data on a range of metrics to understand how their investments are impacting student experiences.
Some of the key metrics that institutions should track include:
In addition to quantitative data, qualitative data helps institutions understand the impact of student experience strategies on their target group. Some of the key qualitative data sources include:
Institutions should employ qualitative and quantitative data mining to ensure a holistic picture of the student experience and aim to include as many diverse student groups in their processes as possible.
A variety of tools and platforms allow institutions to collect and analyse data on student experience strategies. Many will be required to work together, ideally with reporting alignment to provide a holistic view.
Some of the key tools include:
Learning Management Systems (LMS) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Systems
At first glance, LMSs are a great way to harvest student data. Students are most likely already familiar with the system and access it regularly, making outreach easy and cheap. However, LMSs and CRMs are not purposely designed to conduct surveys and usually don’t feature sophisticated evaluation tools. Simple questionnaires can easily be administered with LMSs and CRMs but for an in-depth analysis of student experience strategies, that data is not enough. Data tracked by LMS or CRM often lacks substantial qualitative elements and only tells half of a story.
In-person Questionnaires and Focus Groups
Taking the time to meet with students, asking in-depth questions, and soliciting qualitative responses is a great way to analyse student experience strategies. These groups allow for immediate feedback and follow-ups, generate substantial data sets, and usually have a solid response rate. In-person or online group meetings are also a great way to build interpersonal relationships and strengthen the student community.
However, students might feel inhibited to share their thoughts in focus groups or intimidated by in-person interviews. In groups, more outspoken participants might drown out quieter voices and students might be subject to social desirability bias, where responders voice opinions that they deem more socially acceptable rather than their views.
Focus groups and in-person questionnaires are also limited in scope and can be expensive to administer.
Check-in platforms and other Survey tools
Check-in platforms and digital survey tools have the advantage of being relatively cost-effective compared to in-person interviews. Students can use digital tools to give feedback, questions can be adapted quickly, and data collated easily. If an option to respond anonymously is added, students can share their thoughts freely and might be more open to giving honest feedback. Check-in platforms and survey tools can be customised to collect specific data or feedback, making them flexible for different evaluation needs.
However, these tools can never provide a full picture if they only collect qualitative or quantitative data. Students may not have the opportunity to give detailed feedback or express themselves fully through survey tools and check-in platforms. It is also possible that the data collected is too specific and not applicable to the whole student population. In addition, participants have to be motivated enough to give feedback to use dedicated feedback tools (as opposed to an LMS).
If combined, these tools can be used to build a comprehensive evaluation of the successes and pitfalls of student experience strategies. The problem with merging different tools to evaluate and analyse student experience strategies is that they might create a patchwork of software and services that is difficult to manage and understand. They might also encourage silo work where different departments implement different strategies and surveys.
Ideally, an evaluation of student experience strategies enables regular check-ins with students, builds a wealth of actionable data that informs strategy, and measures the success of interventions immediately without increasing the workload of students and staff.
If tertiary education providers want to create an institution-wide evaluation of the ROI of their student experience strategy, they should implement a tool that allows them to easily access and analyse student data and feedback in an agile way.
By actively involving students in their campus experience and giving them a voice and agency, these surveys create a more engaged community, increase motivation, and build trust.
Ensure that your students play a role in defining what a successful student experience means to them. Student success is institution success.