The most well-known application of predictive analytics
software is credit scoring, providing financial institutions with a ranking of
the likelihood a customer will make future credit payments on time. The
technology is also finding its way onto college campuses as a tool to help
students improve grades and stay in school.
Four schools in Tennessee found that students using
Degree Compass software created by Desire2Learn to select courses had a much
higher rate of success than peers who chose courses on their own. The average
number of credit hours passed by students using the technology for 12 credit
hours was 10.66, compared to just two credit hours passed for students who
didn’t use Degree Compass at one school.
The software compares information from a student’s
transcript with data from thousands of other students to generate
individualized course suggestions ranked on a five-star scale.
“I am very excited about the latest data that shows
more and more clearly how students of all abilities succeed when they follow
the recommendations from Degree Compass,” Tristan Denley, vice chancellor for
academic affairs at the Tennessee Board of Regents, said in a report in eCampus News.
