Tag: college
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Engineering College Management Software: Features
Engineering college management software is an essential tool that automates the higher education sector from admission to graduation and beyond. It helps institutions achieve their mission and goals, increase student enrollment, and streamline college administration. For engineering colleges and higher education institutions, this software provides a comprehensive suite of features across web and mobile platforms, enabling them to manage records, enhance the student learning experience, improve operational efficiency, and reduce costs.
The program is customizable, scalable, and versatile. It provides accurate administrative and academic information to college leadership, improving decision-making. Administrative, professor, and student communication is improved by this program, improving efficiency and effectiveness.
Why Choose Engineering College Management Software?
Managing admissions, academic progress, and finances are just a few of the many hats an engineering college administrator must wear. By providing a unified, user-friendly platform, Engineering College Management Software streamlines operations, increases productivity, and keeps campuses one step ahead of the competition. This allows institutions to concentrate on what’s important—providing a high-quality education and boosting student success—by automating laborious operations and providing real-time insights.
Why Is It Game-Changing? Benefits of Engineering College Management Software
- Reduces Difficulty: From enrolling students to keeping tabs on their classes, you may do it all from a central location.
- Access Data Effortlessly: Make better decisions and respond faster with access to real-time analytics.
- Efficient Communication: Facilitate the easy connection of staff, students, and professors to encourage collaboration.
- Preparing for the Future: It is designed to be easily expanded to accommodate your growing institution.
- Saves Money and Time: Reduces human effort and administrative burdens by automating routine tasks.
- Tracking progress and offering timely interventions can greatly enhance student support, leading to better outcomes.
The engineering college management software isn’t just software—it’s a smarter way to run your campus.
Key Features of Engineering College Management Software
The strong features of Engineering College Management Software simplify operations, improve student experience, and improve engineering institution decision-making. These characteristics, from pre-registration to placements, help engineering colleges compete in a competitive academic environment. See it closer:
1. Streamlined Pre-Registration Process
- Use simple web forms to manage inquiries and registrations.
- Gather students’ personal, contact, and course information.
- Receive real-time status updates and automatic follow-up reminders.
- Use dashboards and reports to keep track of inquiries and encourage student enrollment.
2. Simplifying Admissions, One Click at a Time
- Let students apply online and breeze through the admissions process.
- Break it down: Create multiple phases for a clear, step-by-step journey.
- Use entrance tests and ratings to admit the best-fit students effortlessly.
- Offer flexible, personalized tuition payment options.
- Keep everyone in the loop with instant email, SMS, and push notifications.
- Say goodbye to manual work—generate admission forms, letters, and templates in a snap.
3. Streamlined Counseling, Smarter Decisions
- Automatically assign requests to counselors for faster, smoother processing.
- Dive deep into admission standards and rules to guide applicants better.
- Set clear fee discount policies for specific student groups.
- Simplify seat allocation for government and management quotas with ease.
4. Hassle-Free Course & Batch Planning
- Easily set up lesson plans and manage courses across batches without the stress.
- Create class schedules that actually work—no conflicts, no headaches.
- Keep tabs on course progress and student performance in real-time, effortlessly.
5. All-in-One Student Management Hub
- Centralize student demographics and enrollment details in one place.
- Automate emails and notifications to keep everyone informed.
- Schedule personalized meetings and check-ins to support student success.
- Monitor progress and learning outcomes to foster academic growth.
6. Stress-Free Timetable Scheduling
- Auto-generate timetables that work like magic—no conflicts, no chaos.
- Juggle faculty and classroom availability with ease.
- Get a clear picture of faculty workloads across programs and subjects.
- Create classroom-specific timetables without breaking a sweat.
7. Simplified Attendance & Leave Tracking
- Track attendance for students and staff on the go—web or mobile, your choice.
- Use RFID or biometric systems for attendance that’s automatic and hassle-free.
- Generate detailed attendance and leave reports in seconds.
- Streamline leave applications and approvals without manual back-and-forth.
8. Exams & Report Cards Made Easy
- Run online exams and assessments without the usual stress.
- Let the system do the math—automate mark calculations with predefined weightages.
- Create professional marksheets and report cards with built-in approval steps.
- Manage result announcements for students and parents with zero fuss.
9. Hassle-Free Fee Management
- Choose from multiple invoicing options for tuition and other charges.
- Automate recurring invoices to simplify scheduled payments.
- Collect fees effortlessly with integrated online payment gateways.
- Send students automated fee reminders so no deadlines are missed.
10. Streamlined Library Management
- Search the catalog like a pro with advanced search and barcode/QR integration.
- Reserve and renew books on the go using a mobile app.
- Automate issuing, returns, renewals, and fines with smart rules.
- Get all the library stats you need with detailed reports and dashboards.
11. Placement Made Simple
- Plan placements with ease—set criteria, schedule assessments, and more.
- Keep students updated with placement trends and training notifications.
- Organize tests, interviews, and group discussions without the hassle.
12. Smart Alerts via Email & SMS
- Set up automated email and SMS alerts in just a few clicks.
- Schedule reminders and updates to go out like clockwork.
- Use an internal mailbox to keep communication streamlined and organized
13. Interactive Online Notice Board & Forum
- Schedule and share event updates and important announcements effortlessly.
- Spark instant discussions and engage students and faculty in lively forums.
- Post images, collect feedback, and keep the conversation flowing with comments.
14. Smarter Dashboards, Sharper Insights
- Dive into everything you need with one-click reports and dashboards.
- Keep an eye on attendance, leaves, exams, fees, and more—all from one spot.
- Stay on top of your finances with clear, detailed income and expense reports.
15. Convenient Mobile App Access
- Keep everything at your fingertips—access data on the go.
- Mark attendance, approve leave, and manage student information anytime.
- Create assessments, check grades, and send instant notifications with ease.
Ready to Revolutionize Your Engineering Campus?
Ready to take your engineering college to the next level? Creatrix Campus is the ultimate cloud-based education management system for managing everything from admissions to campus operations, designed with your unique needs in mind. Whether it’s simplifying administrative tasks, enhancing student engagement, or keeping faculty workloads in check, we’ve got it all covered. With real-time data, seamless integrations, and an intuitive interface, your institution will be equipped to tackle the challenges of today and embrace the opportunities of tomorrow.
So, why wait? Let’s talk about how Creatrix Campus can streamline your operations and drive your institution’s success, all while giving you the flexibility and control you need to thrive. Your engineering campus deserves the best—let’s make it happen!
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This week in 5 numbers: Trump directive targets college DEI
The maximum number of organizations, including colleges with endowments over $1 billion, that President Donald Trump asked each federal agency to identify as potential targets for “civil compliance investigations.” The directive — which targets diversity, equity and inclusion programs — came in an executive order on Tuesday, the first full day of the new Trump administration. -
North Idaho College awaits its fate
After years of scrutiny over governance issues that included violations of open meetings laws and other infractions, North Idaho College will soon learn whether it will keep or lose accreditation.
The Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities will convene Tuesday through Friday for its January meeting. Commissioners will determine whether NIC adequately resolved outstanding concerns driven by a former board majority that emphasized culture war issues at the rural Idaho college, tried to push out its president and hired personnel with political connections to board members.
A decision on the college’s accreditation status will be delivered within 30 days of the meeting.
College officials hope the commissioners see the progress they say NIC has made over the last year, resolving various governance issues raised by NWCCU as it sought to comply with accreditation standards after a flurry of warnings that culminated in a show-cause status in February 2023, meaning the college must “present evidence why its accreditation should not be withdrawn.” The sanction highlighted multiple governance issues driven by an exceptionally erratic board.
Years of Conflict
North Idaho’s clash with its accreditor came as a result of thorny governance issues marked by bitter clashes on its five-member elected Board of Trustees, with meetings that occasionally devolved into name-calling and appeared at times to be fueled by personal and ideological agendas.
The high drama began at the small college in Coeur d’Alene in 2021 with allegations of abuse and aggressive behavior toward employees and others by then-chair Todd Banducci. The firing of former president Rick MacLennan without cause that same year prompted a successful lawsuit against the college, and the resignation of three board members (one amid residency questions) in 2022 prompted the state to temporarily appoint three new trustees who served out the remainder of their predecessors’ terms.
While the reconstituted board managed to hire a new president in 2022, membership was reshuffled after elections that year. Two members who often voted together—Banducci and Greg McKenzie—were joined by Mike Waggoner, all of whom had ties to the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee, a group some considered far-right even for rural Idaho. With a new board majority in place, governance issues at NIC escalated rapidly in 2023.
The new majority seated after Election Day in 2022 began by hiring Art Macomber as the college’s attorney in a surprise move that the board would later admit violated open meetings laws. The college’s prior attorney, Marc Lyons, had resigned after the election, writing that his services were “no longer desired” by the board majority. Macomber, who has since resigned, had political connections to the board majority.
The board’s next act was to sideline President Nick Swayne, placing him on administrative leave in December after he cautioned trustees that they had violated open meetings and procurement law by abruptly picking Macomber without public notice or a bidding process. In Swayne’s place, the board hired an interim president while Macomber conducted a nebulous investigation into Swayne’s hiring by the prior board. (The interim president was given a contract that paid him more than $235,000 a year, $5,000 more than Swayne’s annual salary.) However, Swayne was reinstated in March 2023 after a successful legal challenge to the board’s attempted ouster.
Amid the volatility, NWCCU issued a series of escalating warnings.
The accreditor first contacted North Idaho leadership in April 2021 in response to complaints about alleged noncompliance with nondiscrimination, governing board and academic freedom standards. The accreditor then raised further concerns about governance standards in December 2021 related to MacLennan’s firing. (The Idaho State Board of Education also raised concerns about “the current trajectory” of NIC that same month.) In April 2022, NWCCU officially sanctioned NIC with a warning letter about noncompliance with governance and institutional integrity standards. In December of that year, after Swayne was temporarily sidelined, the accreditor threatened NIC with show-cause status. By February 2023, NWCCU followed through, slapping NIC with a show- cause sanction that was later extended in July of that year.
In a May 2023 report, accreditors wrote that “NIC’s governing board’s actions over the past two years have created risks to institutional quality and integrity.” Among their concerns were “multiple lawsuits resulting from Board actions” and violations of open meetings laws; high leadership turnover, including having two presidents under contract; the hiring process for Macomber; and multiple votes of no confidence in the board by faculty and staff that trustees had not responded to.
When NWCCU extended NIC’s show-cause status in July, it called on the board to address the no-confidence resolutions and “resolve current litigation, governance, and accreditation issues that have had a current and immediate impact” on college finances, among various other issues.
Swayne, in an interview with Inside Higher Ed, noted that the issues fell on the governance side, which is also reflected in NWCCU’s findings. Academics at the college, he said, are strong.
An Optimistic Outlook
As the concerns about the loss of accreditation continued—often becoming a heated focal point in public comments at board meetings—NIC hired outside consultants, such as the Association of Community College Trustees to help develop board policies and interpersonal relationships.
While that process seemed to help, Swayne doesn’t believe a lack of training was the issue.
“I don’t want to discount the value of the consulting, but two years of consulting to try to teach board members, adults—well-educated adults—how to behave properly in a board meeting doesn’t make a lot of sense,” Swayne said. “So there was something else going on. I can’t tell you what that was—I don’t know.”
The notion of something sinister underlying the actions of the former board majority has been a common theme at meetings in recent years, with speakers questioning the trustees’ motives. Local residents often demanded the board majority explain their motivations and offered theories of their own, sometimes tinged with conspiracy, including speculation that the three trustees aimed to shut the college down in order to free up prime real estate for development.
Swayne suggested there was a “hangover from COVID” at play given that opposition to masks and vaccines was a “main issue” for the majority bloc of trustees until the coronavirus pandemic waned. Emboldened trustees, he suspects, were in search of another cause after that fight ended. And some, like Banducci, had alleged the existence of a liberal “deep state” at the community college, particularly among faculty.
After some employees voiced support for the Black Lives Matter movement, Banducci claimed on a podcast that “those agendas are being woven into the curriculum. And, you know, who controls the kids, who controls their minds, who controls the college student, you know, controls the voter of the future and controls the populace.” Banducci also allegedly berated MacLennan’s wife for being a Hillary Clinton support, according to a former trustee who called for Banducci to step down in 2021.
But with increasing accreditor scrutiny, there appeared to be a softening of the board, starting with Waggoner, who often sided with Banducci and McKenzie but later emerged as a swing vote.
Swayne said he noticed the change around May 2024. And once Waggoner’s voting patterns shifted, Banducci and McKenzie fell in behind him. Meetings, which had often stretched on for hours due to heated public comment periods and legal wrangling, became shorter, more cordial and nonconfrontational.
Last fall, Banducci and Waggoner decided not to run for re-election and McKenzie lost his bid for another term, putting an end to the board majority that was behind many of the decisions that prompted scrutiny from accreditors as three new trustees were seated. (McKenzie and Banducci did not respond to requests for comment from Inside Higher Ed. Waggoner could not be reached.)
Swayne said there were “seven months of relatively normalized meetings with the old board.” And now, with a reconfigured board, he believes NIC’s governance issues have been resolved.
If NIC does lose accreditation over governance issues, it would be an anomaly. Typically, accreditation is stripped due to severe financial or academic issues, which NWCCU has not found. Governance concerns are typically met with warnings, which NWCCU issued in multiple cases before taking further action.
NWCCU president Sonny Ramaswamy wrote by email that it would be “inappropriate to speak about any decisions the Board of Commissioners will make [on] North Idaho College, before they have acted” and noted that the process will follow an established accreditation actions policy.
While Swayne declined to predict the outcome, he believes the college has made significant progress on accreditation concerns and “started meeting the standards back in May of 2024.” He’s hopeful that a room full of more than two dozen commissioners will see it the same way.
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Maximize Your Winter Break: College Class Benefits
Maximize Your Winter Break: College Class Benefits
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College costs have grown, but so has the return (opinion)
FG Trade Latin/E+/Getty Images
What’s the biggest problem facing college students today? Cost is a big concern, of course, for good reason. But many would point to something equally troubling—misperceptions about the value of college degrees. That’s no surprise when reasonable questions are raised about whether graduates are job-ready—and if too many jobs unnecessarily require diplomas.
There has long been a paper ceiling that penalizes applicants who lack degrees. And more companies are now taking a closer look at so-called STARs—people Skilled Through Alternative Routes.
The group Tear the Paper Ceiling says that 61 percent of Black workers, 55 percent of Hispanic workers, 66 percent of rural workers and 62 percent of veterans are considered STARs. They have learned valuable work skills through military service, certificate programs, on-the-job training and boot camps. But too often, they’ve been shut out unfairly.
I applaud the work of this national group and their partners. The equity barriers to jobs are real. Only half of working-age people have a quality degree or other credential beyond high school, even as millions of jobs go unfilled in part because applicants lack the required background or credentials. It only makes sense to make sure we’re not leaving behind talented but uncredentialed neighbors.
But to take a deeper look is to understand this isn’t only about expanding opportunity and filling today’s open jobs, but the jobs that an increasingly tech-driven, interconnected world will demand in coming years. Skills-based hiring is a good idea, but it won’t on its own come close to solving the nation’s human talent crisis. Increasing higher educational attainment by making sure many more people get better credentials—credentials of value—is the key.
Foundation of Growth
Higher education has always been about producing graduates who are ready to start careers, not just jobs. This matters because a person who is a good applicant for a position now could face challenges moving to better and higher-paying positions because they lack the foundation for career growth fostered in postsecondary programs.
The American Association of Colleges and Universities has surveyed executives and hiring managers eight times since 2006. The most recent survey, from 2023, found that 80 percent of employers strongly or somewhat agree that college prepares people for success in the workforce. Getting a degree is certainly worth the time and money, respondents suggested, as the survey “found a strong correlation between the outcomes of a liberal education and the knowledge and skills employers view as essential for success in entry-level jobs and for advancement in their companies.”
There will always be conflicting data points in times of change. For example, the push for skills-based hiring, including at the federal level, is opening doors to a broader array of good jobs that historically required a college degree. However, research by Harvard Business School and the Burning Glass Institute shows that college graduates still have an advantage when it comes to getting jobs with higher salaries and better benefits.
It turns out that employers aren’t committing to skills-based hiring at the level that recent headlines might suggest. The Harvard–Burning Glass report tracked more than 11,000 jobs where a bachelor’s degree was no longer required in the job description. It found only a 3.5-percentage-point increase in the share of non-degree-holders hired into those roles—a decidedly underwhelming number suggesting the buzz about skills-based hiring may be more hype than trend.
The Lifelong Payoff
This and other signs reinforce the enduring value of degrees: A recent report from Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce found that 72 percent of jobs in the United States will require post–high school education or training by the year 2031. The center also found:
- People with bachelor’s degrees earn, on average, $1.2 million more over their lifetime than those with only a high school education.
- Of the 18.5 million annual job openings we expect in the coming years, more than two-thirds will require at least some college education.
- Earnings for people without degrees have been growing over the past decade, but so has pay for degree holders. Even as people without degrees earn more, they are still not catching up with those with diplomas.
Durable Skills Matter
Employers often say they’re looking for “durable” skills, such as critical thinking, communication and problem-solving.
Someone looking to hire an entry-level software developer might consider a candidate with skills in Python or other programming languages developed through informal learning. Many gifted techies are self-taught or developed skills through coding boot camps or working at start-ups, for example.
But a college graduate with similar skills might stand out because of their experience working in groups to complete projects, their communication and presentation skills, analytical thinking, and other traits fostered in college classes.
The catch: Across the board, we need better definitions of what our credentials mean. What defines a credential of value, exactly, and how do we make sure that the people obtaining credentials can do the work of the future?
Certainly, our fast-moving, tech-driven economy increasingly rewards nimble problem-solvers. According to the World Economic Forum’s 2023 Future of Jobs report, employers estimate that 44 percent of workers’ skills will be disrupted in the next five years.
“Cognitive skills are reported to be growing in importance most quickly, reflecting the increasing importance of complex problem-solving in the workplace,” the report said. “Surveyed businesses report creative thinking to be growing in importance slightly more rapidly than analytical thinking.”
There are many implications to this change. Embedded in the education pay premium is a fairness issue when it comes to who goes to college and how we support them. The Georgetown center has long reported on the value of a college degree and the persistent opportunity gaps for women and people of color.
The Change-Ready Nation
Whatever the impact of skills-based hiring on the nation’s labor shortage, we shouldn’t stop there. Addressing the long-standing inequities in higher education and the workforce means ensuring that these skills-based pathways include opportunities for all workers, especially when it comes to pursuing further education and training even after they enter the workforce.
Skills-based hiring and the push for increasing attainment aren’t countervailing forces. They’re aimed at ensuring that the nation grows and applies the talent it needs to be prepared for the human work of the 21st century, and to achieve the civic and economic benefits that people with good-paying jobs bring to their communities.
In the end, this is about more than the job readiness of our students. We’re talking about the change readiness of our entire nation in a rapidly evolving economy. It makes sense to revamp job requirements to meet workforce demands, but there’s no denying we’ll need the best-educated country we can build if we’re going to deliver opportunity and economic prosperity fairly for everyone.
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A short college course for students’ life, academic skills
While many students experience growing pains in the transition from high school to college, today’s learners face an extra challenge emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic. Many students experienced learning loss in K-12 as a result of distance learning, which has stunted their readiness to engage fully in academia.
Three faculty members in the communications division at DePaul University noticed a disconnect in their own classrooms as they sought to connect with students. They decided to create their own intervention to address learners’ lack of communication and self-efficacy skills.
Since 2022, DePaul has offered a two-credit communication course that assists students midway through the term and encourages reflection and goal setting for future success. Over the past four terms, faculty members have seen demonstrated change in students’ self-perceptions and commitment to engage in long-term success strategies.
The background: Upon returning to in-person instruction after the pandemic, associate professor Jay Baglia noticed students still behaved as though their classes were one-directional Zoom calls, staring blankly or demonstrating learned helplessness from a lack of deadlines and loose attendance policies.
“We were seeing a greater proportion of students who were not prepared for the college experience,” says Elissa Foster, professor and faculty fellow of the DePaul Humanities Center.
Previous research showed that strategies to increase students’ collaboration and participation in class positively impacted engagement, helping students take a more active role in their learning and classroom environment.
The faculty members decided to create their own workshop to equip students with practical tools they can use in their academics and their lives beyond.
How it works: Offered for the first time in fall 2022, the Communication Fundamentals for College Success course is a two-credit, five-week course that meets for two 90-minute sessions a week, for a total of 10 meetings. The class is housed in the College of Communication but available to all undergraduate students.
The course is co-taught and was developed by Foster and Kendra Knight, associate professor in the college of communication and an assessment consultant for the center for teaching and learning. Guest speakers from advising and the Office of Health Promotion and Wellness provide additional perspective.
(from left to right) Jay Baglia, Elissa Foster and Kendra Knight developed a short-form course to support students’ capabilities in higher education and give them tools for future success. Aubreonna Chamberlain/DePaul University
Course content includes skills and behaviors taught in the context of communication for success: asking for help, using university resources, engaging in class with peers and professors, and learning academic software. It also touches on more general behaviors like personal awareness, mindfulness, coping practices, a growth mindset, goal setting and project management.
The demographics of students enrolled in the course vary; some are transfers looking for support as they navigate a university for the first time. Others are A students who wanted an extra course in their schedule. Others are juniors or seniors hoping to gain longer-term life skills to apply to their internships or their lives as professionals and find work-life balance.
Throughout the course, students turned in regular reflection exercises for assessment and the final assignment was a writing assignment to identify three tools that they will take with them beyond this course.
What’s different: One of the challenges in launching the course was distinguishing its goals from DePaul’s Chicago Quarter, which is the first-year precollege experience. Baglia compares the college experience to taking an international vacation: While you might have a guidebook and plan well for the experience beforehand, once you’re in country, you face challenges you didn’t anticipate or may be overwhelmed.
Orientation is the guidebook students receive before going abroad, and the Communication for Success Class is their tour guide along the way.
“I think across the country, universities and college professors are recognizing that scaffolding is really the way to go, particularly with first-generation college students,” Baglia says. “They don’t always have the language or the tools or the support or the conversations at home that prepare them for the strangeness of living on their own [and navigating higher education].”
A unique facet of the course is that it’s offered between weeks three and seven in the semester, starting immediately after the add-drop period concludes and continuing until midterms. This delayed-start structure means the students enrolled in the course are often looking for additional credits to keep their full-time enrollment status, sometimes after dropping a different course.
The timing of the course also requires a little time and trust, because most students register for it later, not during the course registration period. Baglia will be teaching the spring 2025 term and, as of Jan. 10, he only has two students registered.
“It has not been easy convincing the administrators in our college to give it some time … Students have to register for this class [later],” Baglia says.
The results: Foster, Knight and Baglia used a small grant to study the effects of the intervention and found, through the data, a majority of students identified time management and developing a growth mindset as the tools they want to keep working on, with just under half indicating self-care and 40 percent writing about classroom engagement.
In their essays, students talked about mapping out their deadlines for the semester or using a digital calendar to stay on top of their schedules. Students also said they were more likely to view challenges as opportunities for growth or consider their own capabilities as underdeveloped, rather than stagnant or insufficient.
The intervention has already spurred similar innovation within the university, with the College of Science and Health offering a similar life skills development course.
Course organizers don’t have plans to scale the course at present, but they are considering ways to collect more data from participants after they finish the course and compare that to the more general university population.
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This article has been updated to clarify the course is housed in the College of Communication.
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What High School Students Really Think About College
Let’s talk about the elephant in the room: colleges struggle to connect with their most important audience—students. Fresh data RNL’s research studies show a big disconnect between what higher education offers and what students need. A new report from the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education is waving red flags about dropping enrollment numbers and workforce gaps if colleges can’t step up their game and prove their worth.
But what’s going on here?
Show me the money: The cost crisis
Here’s what keeps students up at night: money. Nearly all (93%) of prospective students are stressing about college costs (RNL & Halda, 2024). Let that sink in—we’re talking about almost every student thinking about college.
The money story gets even more complicated:
- 82% say they might not even apply because they’re worried about costs (RNL & ZeeMee, 2024)
- 73% aren’t sure if their family can foot the bill (RNL & Halda, 2024)
- Many don’t even try for financial aid because they assume they won’t qualify (RNL, Ardeo & Halda, 2024)
“Is it worth it?”—The million-dollar question
Students aren’t just worried about paying for college—they’re questioning whether it’s worth the investment. The stats tell us:
- 60% wonder if college is worth the time, money, and effort
- Only 63% see a job offer after graduation as their main goal
- Half of students think they can make good money without a degree
(RNL & Halda, 2024)
Lost in the college maze
In 2024, you’d think finding college info would be easy. Spoiler alert: it’s not. Check this out:
- 72% say applying to college is just too hard (RNL, Ardeo & Halda, 2024)
- 63% can’t figure out how to choose the right school (RNL & ZeeMee, 2024)
- 53% don’t know where to get help with college planning
- 51% are stuck at square one, not knowing where to start
(RNL & Halda, 2024)
Transforming the college experience: A blueprint for change
The days of one-size-fits-all higher education are over. How can offer what students need?
1. Simplify the journey
Colleges must strip away the bureaucracy that scares away promising students. This means:
- Creating a streamlined, user-friendly application process
- Building intuitive websites that guide rather than confuse
- Offering clear, step-by-step roadmaps to enrollment
- Providing personalized application support based on each student’s background and needs
2. Talk money from day one
No more financial surprises or hidden costs. Colleges should:
- Present total costs upfront, including living expenses and materials
- Break down financial aid options in clear, everyday language
- Show concrete examples of return on investment
- Create customized financial planning tools that account for individual circumstances
3. Show Real Results
Students deserve to see the real impact of their investment:
- Share detailed job placement data by major and career path
- Report actual salary ranges for recent graduates
- Feature diverse alumni success stories across different fields
- Match potential career outcomes to students’ individual interests and goals
3. Innovate the Learning Experience
Education shouldn’t be rigid. Modern colleges must:
- Design flexible learning paths that fit different lifestyles
- Develop focused credential programs for specific career goals
- Create clear pathways from certificates to full degrees
- Offer personalized learning tracks based on student strengths and career objectives
The future of higher education isn’t just about making things easier—it’s about making them work better for each individual student. Colleges that embrace these changes won’t just survive; they’ll thrive by truly serving their students’ needs.
The future of higher education: A student-first revolution
Let’s be honest: the old college playbook isn’t cutting it anymore. Students are drowning in debt, juggling full-time jobs with classes, and questioning whether a degree is worth the sacrifice. They’re not asking for less rigor—they’re asking for a system that acknowledges their reality.
The WICHE report plainly states, “Demography need not be destiny.” But this isn’t just about numbers.
- It’s about Darla raising two kids while pursuing her nursing degree.
- It’s about Javier, the first in his family to consider college and has no roadmap to follow.
- It’s about Sophia working two jobs just to afford textbooks.
- It’s about Tyler, a baseball standout from rural Iowa whose guidance counselor is stretched too thin to help him navigate the recruiting process his parents never experienced.
- It’s about Emma, whose well-meaning parents have taken over her college search entirely, leaving her silent and stressed about expressing her own dreams.
These students aren’t looking for handouts. They’re looking for:
- A system that respects their time and responsibilities
- Clear paths that connect their education to real careers
- Flexible options that don’t force them to choose between life and learning
- Proof that their investment will pay off in tangible ways
The colleges that will thrive aren’t the ones with the fanciest buildings or the most prestigious names. They’re the ones who dare to ask: “What do our students need to succeed?”
Because here’s the truth: higher education isn’t just about preserving institutions. It’s about transforming lives. And right now, too many bright, capable students are being left behind by a system that wasn’t built for them.
The future belongs to colleges brave enough to change. Not just with fancy words and mission statements but with real, student-centered solutions that make education accessible, achievable, and worth every dollar and hour invested.
Reports cited in this blog—available for free download
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College Student Satisfaction: Reflecting on 30 Years
College students have changed greatly in 30 years, but how has student satisfaction changed? Think back 30 years ago to 1995. What is different for you now? Where were you and what were you doing in the mid 1990s? Perhaps you were still in school and living at home, or not even born yet. Perhaps you were in your early years of working in higher education. Take a moment to reflect on what has (and has not) changed for you in that span of time.
Thirty years ago, I was just starting my position at what was then Noel-Levitz. What stands out for me was that I was about to become a mom for the first time. Now my baby is grown and will be a new mom herself later this year. And I find myself being on one of the “seasoned professionals” in the company, working alongside members of my team who were still in elementary school back in 1995.
Thirty years ago, we were just beginning to utilize email and the internet. Now they have become the primary way we do business, communicate professionally, and discover information. Artificial intelligence (AI) is the new technology that we are learning to embrace to improve our professional and personal lives.
Thirty years ago, students were arriving on our campuses, seeking an education, guidance, growth, belonging, value for their investment and ultimately a better life. That’s still the case today. Plus, students are navigating more technology options, they are more openly seeking mental health support, and they are living in a world full of distractions. Online learning is a reality now and continues to become more accepted as a modality, especially after the experiences of 2020. As the demographic cliff looms, colleges are expanding their focus to include lifelong learners.
Thirty years ago is also when the Student Satisfaction Inventory (SSI) was launched to provide four-year and two-year institutions with a tool to better understand the priorities of their students. (In the early 2000s, we added survey instruments specifically for adult and online populations.) The data identified where the college was performing well and where it mattered for them to do better in order to retain their students to graduation. The concept of looking at satisfaction within the context of the level of importance was new back then, but in the past three decades, it has become the standard for capturing student perceptions. Since 1995, we have worked with thousands of institutions and collected data from millions of individuals, documenting what is important and where students are satisfied or dissatisfied with their experience. As we reach this 30-year milestone for the SSI, I took some time to reflect on what has changed in students’ perceptions and what has stayed the same.
Consistent priorities
What stood out to me as I reviewed the national data sets over the past 30 years is that what matters to students has largely stayed the same. Students continue to care about good advising, quality instruction and getting access to classes. The academic experience is highly valued by students and is the primary reason they are enrolled, now and then.
Another observation is that there are two areas that have been consistent priorities for improvement, especially at four-year private and public institutions:
- Tuition paid is a worthwhile investment.
- Adequate financial aid is available for most students.
These two items have routinely appeared as national challenges (areas of high importance and low satisfaction) over the decades, which shows that institutions continue to have opportunities to communicate value and address the financial pain points of students to make higher education accessible and affordable.
Campus climate is key
One thing we have learned over the past thirty years is how students feel on campus is key to student success and retention. The research reflects the strongest links between students’ sense of belonging, feeling welcome, and enjoying their campus experience to their overall levels of satisfaction. High levels of satisfaction are linked to individual student retention and institutional graduation rates. Campuses that want to best influence students remaining enrolled are being intentional with efforts to show concern for students individually, building connections between students from day one, and continuing those activities as students progress each year. It is important for institutions to recognize that students have lots of options to receive a quality education, but the environment and the potential student “fit” is more likely to vary from location to location. What happens while a student is at the college they have selected is more impactful on them than which institution they ultimately chose. Creating welcoming environments and supporting students’ sense of belonging in the chosen college is a way for institutions to stand out and succeed in serving students. Colleges often ask, “Why do students leave?” when they could be asking, “Why do students stay?” Building positive campus cultures and expanding the “good stuff” being done for students is a way to critical way to improve student and institutional success.
One sector where the data reflect high satisfaction scores and good consistency, especially in the past five years since the pandemic, is community colleges. Students attending their (often local) two-year institutions want to be there, with high percentages of students indicating the school is their first choice. Community college students nationally indicate areas such as the campus staff being caring/helpful, students being made to feel welcome, and people on the campus respecting each other, as strengths (high importance and high satisfaction). These positive perceptions are also reflected with overall high levels of satisfaction and indications of a likelihood to re-enroll if the student had it to do over again. The data indicate that two-year institutions are doing a nice job of building a sense of community among primarily commuter student populations.
Systemic issues and pockets of improvement
Everyone talks about “kids today,” but in reality, they have been doing that for generations. It can’t be a reason not to change and respond appropriately to the needs of current students. When we consider the priorities for improvement in higher education that have remained at the forefront, we may need to recognize that some of these areas are systemic to higher education, along with recognizing that higher education generally has not done enough to respond. There are certainly pockets of improvement at schools that have prioritized being responsive and, as a result, are seeing positive movement in student satisfaction and student retention, but that is not happening everywhere. Taking action based on student feedback is a powerful way to influence student success. The campuses that have bought into that concept are seeing the results.
Current student satisfaction national results
Want to learn more about the current trends in student satisfaction? I invite you to download the 2024 National Student Satisfaction and Priorities Report.
This year’s analysis takes a closer look at the national results by demographic subpopulations, primarily by class level, to get a clearer view on how to improve the student experience. Institutions have found that targeting initiatives for particular student populations can be an effective way to have the biggest impact on student satisfaction. Download your free copy today.
