“Knowing very early on which students would likely benefit from extra support or interventions, colleges can reduce drop-out rates and get more students to graduation.”
Dr. Paul Attewell, CUNY Graduate Center
Ascendium and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are funding a networked community of researchers in four states, led by Dr. Paul Attewell at City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center. With a combined $955,000 in grants, researchers from New York, Texas, Virginia and Illinois will use data mining techniques to analyze educational data across multiple systems and connect it to state-level data about employment and income.
Using information available at entry to college plus the student’s performance in the first college semester, the researchers will develop models for accurately predicting students’ likelihood of retention, degree completion and long-term earning potential. A common set of early indicators of student success will help identify which behaviors might lead some students to fall behind, and the earnings consequences of taking different routes through college.
