Tag: students

Universities want more money upfront. DfE wants proof students are really there
When students get their student maintenance loans, they get the first instalment a lot earlier than their university gets the corresponding tuition fee payment.

That might help explain the curious case of disparities between pulldown – but there’s a sound theory to it. Students without savings could face a cashflow issue if it was any other way.

It’s becoming a problem for universities too. The Office for Students’ (OfS) financial sustainability update report highlights low liquidity levels in the sector – especially during certain points in the annual cycle.

That matters because universities have to meet minimum liquidity requirements in the registration conditions in England. A failure to maintain those levels can also impact “going concern” status and breach some lending covenants.

In the past, cash flow imbalances tended to be offset by other income sources, borrowing, or cross-subsidies, such as from international student fees.

But given how universities operate and the demands on cash before those SLC payments come in, there is in some providers a disproportionate reliance on arrears payments from SLC-funded students compared to other funding sources.

For non-SLC funded students, universities typically charge fees upfront (or at least in front-loaded advance instalments) or get payments for stuff like government-funded apprenticeships monthly. Research funding streams also match payments to incurred costs.

But the SLC’s payment profile for undergrads is 25:25:50 – so universities face significant upfront costs in the first two terms and then wait longer than standard 30-day payment terms to receive funds, forcing them to bridge the gap using other resources.

So the University Alliance has a proposal – switch those payments to 40:40:20 to improve the sector’s funding position:

Even if the move was phased first to 33:33:33 and then to 40:40:20 it would have an immediate impact on the current situation which has been adversely impacted by the previous administration’s approach to international student recruitment through restrictive visa policies.

The current system is going to have to undergo change anyway, given the potential implications of the LLE. I note in passing that one of the most common student leader manifesto goals this year is better, less front-loaded instalments – surely the principle (and the issue in terms of cashflow) cuts both ways.

But UA’s proposal might not land in quite the way intended – partly because the Student Loans Company is under pressure to increase yield.

Leakage

DfE’s “Tailored Review” of the Student Loans Company back in July 2019 talked of the rapidly increasing size of the student loan book, and the increasing importance and value of having a robust, well-resourced and effective repayment strategy which actively seeks to maximise yield.

That said that the SLC is hamstrung by IT systems which do not “adequately facilitate the use of smart diagnostics for effective modelling, proactive use of data analytics and more precise customer segmentation” to minimise repayment leakage:

Indeed, unverified customers account for c. £7bn of uncollected repayments (although many of these would not be in a position to repay)

September’s SLC board minutes noted that its CEO had been along to DfE’s Audit and Risk Committee, where the department led an item on the student finance loan book, with an emphasis on its “scale and yield potential”.

And its newly published Business Plan for 2024-25 says it will work with partners in DfE to progress proposals to “improve repayment customer verification rates”, “improve data quality to increase verification and yield” and look at options to apply stronger sanctions to customers not adhering to the terms and conditions of their student finance repayments.

Some of that is about the SLC’s systems – but one of the problems noted in the National Audit Office’s report into franchising is that there is often “insufficient evidence” that students are attending and engaging with their courses:

In determining a student’s eligibility for loan payments, and before making payments, SLC uses lead providers’ data to confirm students’ attendance. Lead providers self-assure their own data… there is no effective standard against which to measure student engagement, which attendance helps demonstrate, and there is no legal or generally accepted definition of attendance. Providers themselves determine whether students are meaningfully engaged with their course.

So in a set of circumstances where the NAO and the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) are already worried about attendance and engagement, and providers are worried about their own cashflow, it seems unlikely that DfE is going to be receptive of a proposal to give providers more of the money early – especially if, in the case of franchised provision, it can’t just claw it back from the lead provider if there’s a problem like the Applied Business Academy.

As we noted back in October, the government’s response to the NAO and the PAC was that it published guidance on attendance management in May, against which providers can be held to account “in relation to the release of SLC tuition fee payments”.

That said that there is an “understanding and acceptance” across the sector that providers should have in place published attendance and engagement policies, so that students understand the commitment expected of them and the respective process a provider follows if attendance expectations are not met.

It also said that in any circumstance where a provider does not have a published policy, the department “expects” that one will exist from the 2024-25 academic year – but it’s pretty clear talking to people around the country that that goal hasn’t been meaningfully met in large parts of the sector, at least in terms of a policy that both covers home students and is “auditable”.

And part of the difficulty there is what is or isn’t meant by “attendance”.

Attending isn’t always in person

The Attendance Management guidance says:

Attendance means participation in a course by a student, including, but not limited to, teaching face-to-face or blended study, in line with a provider’s published attendance policy. A provider should communicate its policy to a student and have an auditable process in place to support the action it may take when a student does not meet attendance expectations.

It goes on to say that providers have flexibility to ensure every student engages with a course, and that the student and/or the course may require greater or less attendance than another due to circumstances or content.

SLC told me that there is no difference between “attendance” and “engagement” – the definition of “attendance” for student finance purposes is active and ongoing engagement. Crucially, it said that “attendance” doesn’t have to mean “in person”, or “studying on campus”.

But the conflation of “attendance” and “engagement” doesn’t seem to apply when a course is designed and designated. Noting that “blended learning” combines traditional classroom teaching with online learning and independent study, it says that there has been some confusion as to whether these courses should be coded as distance learning courses:

Courses of any teaching method are distance learning if the students only attend occasionally, for example once a term. If students attend regularly, for example once a week, and follow a structured timetable, the course is not distance learning and you should not add it to CMS as such.

That paragraph draws a clear distinction between attendance and engagement. Its two scenarios also appear to draw a distinction between (physical) attendance and “engagement”:
- Scenario 1: Thomas is studying a BA Hons in sports coaching. His course hours are 30 weeks online study including lectures and tutorials, 2 days per week physical attendance at sports academy, 6 days per year attendance at university. As Thomas needs to attend the sports academy regularly rather than occasionally, this is an in-attendance course.
- Scenario 2: Kate is studying an HND in Musical Theatre. Her course hours are 30 weeks online study including lectures and tutorials, 3 days per year (1 day per term) attendance at college. As Kate only needs to attend college occasionally rather than regularly, this is a distance learning course.
The difference between Scenario 2 and the patterns of attendance being seen by many providers around the country this term is that in that scenario, the course is designed not to include regular physical attendance.

A two-stage process

SLC told me that whether it’s distance or in-person, engagement on a course is required and confirmation of that engagement is therefore required for SLC to make a fee loan payment on the student’s behalf.

Ongoing engagement is not part of the definition of in-person or distance learning. That distinction relates to the attributes of the course that is supplied by the provider, as to whether the course has elements of in-person learning or if the student is not required to be in-person.

But the obvious question is as follows. Notwithstanding codified exemptions for disabled students, if a course is designed as blended, would an acceptable “attendance management” policy for a course of that sort allow a student to engage all term, but only occasionally physically attend?

If yes, and Kate’s HND wasn’t designed as blended, and her mate Kathy was on a course that was designed as blended, that would seem to mean that they could both have exactly the same attendance and engagement pattern, but Kathy would get a maintenance loan while Kate wouldn’t.

If, on the other hand, a course was designed as blended and requiring regular in-person attendance, and SLC would expect an attendance/engagement policy to enforce that regular in-person attendance, there’s plenty of providers right now falling foul of those expectations.

So you end up with three categories:
1. Providers who’ve never really had a proper policy on any of this for home students – let alone enforce one – beyond noticing if a student doesn’t submit what can often be end-of-year summative assessment.
2. Providers who designed a course as blended where students are in reality engaging in a “distance learning” kind of way – which, while confirming engagement in accordance with the rules, seems hugely unjust to tens of thousands of OU students if nothing else.
3. Providers who are heavily auditing and requiring physical attendance – partly to achieve parity with international students – at just the point that students are struggling to attend in-person given wider demands on their time.
It may well be the case that SLC is stuck with the definitions it has – which in part date back to the Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998.

But if it’s the case that it’s OK for an attendance policy to not actually require regular in-person attendance, it’s hard to believe that whatever size and shaped-problem that DfE and the SLC have with student loan fraud is going to get anything other than worse.

And in the end, this all comes back to an old problem – not knowing what’s going on underneath headline non-continuation.

How far in?

Remember those risks that OfS identified in its insight brief on subcontracting:
- Data of extremely poor quality has been submitted in relation to students at some subcontractual partnerships, leading to payments being made to, and on behalf of, students who are not genuinely entitled to them.
- Delivery partners have lacked clear attendance policies, making it almost impossible for lead providers to submit accurate data to the OfS and the SLC in relation to these students.
- Students have been encouraged to register for courses that they do not genuinely intend to study, to access public funding through maintenance loans. In some cases, students have withdrawn from courses shortly after receiving these funds; in others there are grounds to doubt that they are continuing to study, despite their termly attendance being confirmed.
Whether we’re looking at a select group of partnerships as OfS published data on last week or directly taught provision, while we know what percentage of UG students don’t make it to the second year, we don’t know what proportion:
- Got instalment 1 of the maintenance loan but didn’t get as far as “engaging” enough for the provider to claim instalment 1 of the tuition fee loan (they don’t show up at all in non-continuation)
- Engaged enough to enable the provider to claim instalment 1 but not enough to enable the provider to claim instalment 2 (and what proportion of them claimed maintenance instalment 2)
- Engaged enough to enable the provider to claim instalment 2 but not enough to enable the provider to claim instalment 3 (and what proportion of them claimed maintenance instalment 3)
- Engaged enough to enable the provider to claim instalment 3 but then failed and was withdrawn
- Engaged enough to enable the provider to claim instalment 3 and was eligible to progress but then self-withdrew
- And we don’t know any of the above for subsequent years of study.
In many ways, what we have here is (yet) another iteration of the stretch involved in a single level playing field. There have been endless tales down the years of Russell Group alumni not really “engaging” at all for entire years, and in some cases entire degree courses – only to pull it out of the bag at the end. It’s an adult environment, after all.

On the other hand, with another part of the sector now under close scrutiny over ghost students of differing definitions – just as the FE sector saw scandals over in the 90s – it doesn’t feel like that kind of legend is to be allowed.

In terms of the cashflow thing, if DfE and the SLC are going to push more of the money upfront, they’re surely going to want to know the percentages and numbers in each of the above categories.

And the accuracy of those percentages and numbers involves providers being sure about “enough” engagement – in an auditable way across the diversity of programmes and reasonable adjustments – to tick the box in the data return to SLC three times a year.

It does feel like there’s some distance to go on all of that as it stands.
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December 18, 2024
Widening participation students have much to teach us

When co-creating with under-represented groups, the most important element for success is a relational approach.

We need to embody core values – such as respect, inclusivity, fairness and consideration – in order to ensure that collaborators have a safe space which allows them to thrive.

Care experienced students have support needs which are often not well understood by the teams who are in place to help. By co-creating resources with local college students who have experience of the care system, we were able to help to provide our tutors with guidance to help them in their support role.

As the number of young people in care in the UK increases and universities face regulatory pressure to enable access and participation in higher education, we will see more students with care experience entering higher education.

So it is vital that universities empower them to overcome the obstacles they have already faced and help them achieve their best outcomes.

Myths and realities

Although it is a myth that care-experienced young people are more likely to end up in prison than in university, the reality is still that the outcomes for care experienced young people are not good.

The Care Leavers Association produced a report in 2015 advising that while children in care and care leavers account for less than 1 per cent of the population, over 25 per cent of the adult prison population has previously been in care.

This, when contrasted with data from the Office for Students, which tells us that in 2018-19 only 13 per cent of pupils who were looked after for 12 months or more, entered higher education compared to 43 per cent of all other pupils, is a glaring call to action.

Our local authority, Devon, has pledged to add care experience as a protected characteristic under the Equality Act, as recommended by an independent review into children’s social care. This should go some way to ensuring that young people with care experience are protected from discrimination.

Care experience as expertise

Our recent initiative focused on ways of working with care-experienced young people, not just as participants but as expert colleagues, whose insights and lived experiences would be integral to the project’s success.

The relational approach that informed our planning exceeded our hopes, allowing us to create a truly collaborative environment where both the young people and our academic community benefited profoundly and meaningfully.

The local authority approached the university about work experience opportunities, and our team of two set about designing a week-long suite of mutually beneficial skills-shares and development opportunities. The care experienced individuals who joined us were invited as experts.

They were studying at local colleges, but have considered university in the future. At the time of the work experience week they were aged 18 – 19. We had not set any parameters for the local authority, our intention being to work with individuals who wanted to take up our offer. These young adults brought invaluable perspectives that informed the creation of resources to improve the support offered to care-experienced students.

Their contributions were not just helpful—they were essential, producing outcomes that would have been impossible without their input. This was not a one-sided effort but a partnership in which their voices were central to the development process.

The week in motion

The week was carefully designed to be balanced, trauma-informed, and safe. It wasn’t about providing generic work experience but about creating a bespoke environment where each young person could belong, see and feel that they mattered, and then identify and pursue their own developmental goals with confidence.

The rooms, resources, colleagues, and plans were all designed to facilitate a relaxed and respectful collegiate atmosphere.

We began with talk (and coffee): co-creating and sharing a space to talk and to share experiences, expertise and aspirations.

The subsequent self-assessment exercises, such as SWOT analyses and personal development plans, allowed the care experienced people to reflect from a place of safety and to articulate their strengths, areas for growth, and personal objectives for the week and beyond.

Mutual benefits

This self-directed approach ensured that they were not only contributing to the university’s resources but also advancing their own skills and confidence. The care experienced people became educators, delivering presentations and engaging in microteaching sessions for staff. These opportunities allowed for the young people to refine their communication skills, build their confidence, and further establish themselves as knowledgeable contributors.

Throughout the week, we prioritised creating a safe and supportive environment. Trust was foundational to the initiative, enabling the young people to fully engage and showcase their expertise and talents.

We deliberately involved colleagues from various departments and used different spaces across the campus, which helped to familiarise the young people with the university setting and adding to their cultural capital. We approached colleagues who shared our approach towards fully inclusive and respectful collaboration to run workshops and facilitate ideas sharing. This relational pedagogy – centred on trust, respect, and mutual learning – allowed for a rich exchange of knowledge and skills.

The resources produced during this week were nothing short of exceptional. Covering topics such as finance for care-experienced students, trauma-informed tutoring, and the traits of a supportive tutor, these materials are now invaluable assets for our Academic Personal Tutors.

Such resources are polished, professional, and most importantly, deeply rooted in the lived experiences of care-experienced individuals. The impact of these resources will be felt across the university, enhancing the support we provide to care-experienced students in a way that truly reflects their needs.

The week culminated in a resource-showcase, which was attended by academics and professional services colleagues from across the university, as well as external stakeholders.

This was a special moment, for all involved: either observing or being our colleagues-for-the-week, mingling at the showcase tables to talk about their design rationale and why supporting the care leaver agenda is so important. It was an event that helped to highlight to the young people the quality and significance of the resources that they had developed.

Success

The feedback that we received from the young people matched our aspirations for the week: they felt supported, empowered, efficacious.

The success of this initiative has inspired us to expand the model. We plan to repeat the experience with other care-experienced young people and extend it to work alongside other underrepresented groups.

Our goal is not only to support those already within our institution, but also to demonstrate that higher education is a welcoming and inclusive space for everyone. By continuing to adopt a relational approach that values the contributions of all students as expert colleagues, we can create a more equitable and supportive academic environment.

This initiative was a sobering reminder that the messages that society tells young people about their potential become their inner voice.

It was also testament to the power of collaboration, mutual respect, and the genuine belief that every student, regardless of their background, has the potential to belong in, and contribute to, the academic community. We must remember that while we work to support widening participation students, they also have much to teach us.

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December 18, 2024
We provide help for IIM Raipur Students for mba project

Our support included preparing an initial synopsis draft, and then once it’s approved, we prepare the final iim project report based on university mentors. Feedback. We offer complete handholding for all students who are looking to seek complete assistance from research to data analysis with primary data surveys and statistical analysis.

Our service also includes industrial guides who help with the project synopsis draughting, final year reports, viva support, and guidance until the iim project pdf is accepted in accordance with the university guidelines. We believe in well-researched, quality work and affordable fees to cater to all income group students, from working professionals to students who have not yet started earning.

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December 16, 2024
From Pause to Progress: Predictors of Success and Hurdles for Returning Students
Title: Some College, No Credential Learners: Measuring Enrollment Readiness

Source: Straighterline, UPCEA

UPCEA and StraighterLine carried out a survey to examine the driving factors, obstacles, preparedness, and viewpoints of individuals who started but did not finish a degree, certificate, technical, or vocational program. This population, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, has grown to 36.8 million, a 2.9 percent increase from the year prior. A total of 1,018 participants completed the survey.

Key findings related to respondents’ readiness to re-enroll include:
- Predictive factors: Mental resilience, routine readiness, a positive appraisal of institutional communication, and belief in the value of a degree strongly predict re-enrollment intentions.
- Academic preparedness: A majority of respondents (88 percent) feel proficient in core academic skills (e.g., reading, writing, math, critical thinking), and 86 percent feel competent using technology for learning tasks.
- Financial readiness: More than half (58 percent) believe they cannot afford tuition and related expenses, while only 22 percent feel financially prepared.
- Career and personal motivations: The top motivators for re-enrolling include improving salary (53 percent), personal goals (44 percent), and pursuing a career change (38 percent).
- Beliefs in higher education: Trust in higher education declines after stopping out. While 84 percent of those who had been enrolled in a degree program initially believed a degree was essential for their career goals, only 34 percent still hold that belief. Additionally, just 42 percent agree that colleges are trustworthy.
- Grit readiness: Four in five respondents feel adaptable and persistent through challenges, and 71 percent say they can handle stress effectively.
- Flexibility and adaptability: Three-fourths of respondents are open to changing routines and adjusting to new environments.
- Learning environment: Half of respondents report having access to a study-friendly environment, but 11 percent report not having such access.
- Time management: Nearly two-thirds are prepared to dedicate the necessary time and effort to complete their education.
- Support systems: About three in every five respondents receive family support for continuing education, but only 31 percent feel supported by their employers.
Key findings related to enrollment funnel experiences include:
- Preferred communication channels: When inquiring about a program, 86 percent of respondents like engaging via email, 42 percent through phone calls, and 39 percent via text messages, while only 6 percent want to use a chatbot.
- Timeliness and quality of communication: A majority (83 percent) agree or strongly agree that the communication they received when reaching out to a college or university about a program was timely, and 80 percent found it informative.
- Enrollment experience: Among those who re-enrolled, 88 percent found that the enrollment process was efficient, 84 percent felt adequately supported by their institution, and 78 percent found the process easy.
- Challenges from inquiry to enrollment: Nearly one-third (31 percent) encountered difficulties with financial aid support, 29 percent experienced delays in getting their questions answered, and 21 percent reported poor communication from the institution.
Click to read the full white paper.

—Nguyen DH Nguyen

If you have any questions or comments about this blog post, please contact us.
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December 12, 2024
HEDx Podcast: Barriers to students accessing ed-tech – Episode 149

Chief strategy officer of global digital content provider VitalSource Jared Pearlman joins Martin Betts on HEDx this week to discuss the need for HE to deliver affordable student experiences and business models for technology providers that make these experiences sustainable.

He provides a great summary of current global barriers to providing equitable, ed-tech enabled access to learning.

Do you have an idea for a story?
Email [email protected]

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December 11, 2024
Engaging Today’s Students Through the Power of AR

Augmented reality (AR) is part of our daily lives, making everyday tasks easier, safer, and more interactive. However, its greatest potential may lie in education, opening new doors for engaging students through hands-on learning.

Most people use augmented reality every day without realizing it. Features like “See this in your room” at major online retailers let users visualize furniture in their space before buying, while backup cameras in cars overlay guidelines to help drivers reverse and park safely. These applications seamlessly blend the digital with the real, providing extra context to inform decisions and deepen understanding.

Now, imagine a student struggling with ratios — a common challenge because ratios require proportional reasoning and dimensional analysis, abstract skills that can be difficult to visualize.

Like “See this in your room”, what if an augmented reality app presented the student with a virtual kitchen counter on their desk, stocked with ingredients for trail mix? The student must mix the correct proportions of raw nuts, raw seeds, and dried fruit, adjusting quantities as they go. Bonus: No mess and no actual cooking. It only requires a smartphone, tablet, or laptop.

This fun, real-world approach helps students learn challenging concepts through play and interaction. It’s one of many activities in McGraw Hill AR, a free app from McGraw Hill, a leading global education company.

Sean Ryan

President, McGraw Hill School

“Immersive technology has the potential to make previously out-of-reach knowledge accessible for any learner,” said Sean Ryan, president of McGraw Hill’s School Group. “McGraw Hill AR will be a game-changer for teachers, particularly in math and science, where the detailed, interactive learning experiences will spark students’ curiosity and drive them to dive into the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of complex, abstract concepts.”

Coordinate Plane

Industrial Revolution

Circulatory System

Reaching students across subjects, languages, and platforms

Yes, the app is really free. McGraw Hill builds the app in partnership with Verizon Innovative Learning. This educational initiative seeks to help bridge the digital divide with a goal of providing digital skills training to 10 million students by 2030.

To help reach those students, the app has a growing library across math, science, and social studies, with plans to add English Language Arts in 2025. It’s available in the App Store and Google Play Store. For students learning on Chromebooks or laptops, there are 3D web-based versions at mharonline.com. All activities are available in Spanish. For educators and homeschoolers, content is standards-aligned with accompanying lesson plans and worksheets at verizon.com/learning.

By combining play with practical learning, McGraw Hill AR offers a new way to connect, engage, and learn.

Click here to download the McGraw Hill AR App

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December 6, 2024
Combining AI and Human Expertise to Better Protect K-12 Students Online

Content warning – this article discusses suicidal ideation. If you or someone you know is in crisis, call, text or chat 988 to reach the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or visit 988lifeline.org for more resources.

AI was one of the major themes of 2024.The discussion frequently revolved around its impact on work, but there are innovative ways it can be used to complement human insight to address significant societal challenges.

For example, suicide was the second leading cause of death for people ages 10-14 (2022) according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This impacts everyone from families to educators. In one small Missouri town, a K-12 Safety Support Specialist was alerted when a student searched, “How much Tylenol does it take to die?” and “What is the best way to kill yourself?” These online searches triggered the school’s student safety tool which uses machine learning to identify harmful content. A specialist was immediately notified and was able to quickly intervene, providing the student with the necessary support to prevent self-harm.

There is an urgent need for effective solutions to protect students from threats like suicide, self-harm, cyberbullying, and exposure to harmful content. A combination of machine learning detection to allow for speed and scale, and human review to allow for context and nuance, is required for a comprehensive K-12 student safety tool. This allows schools to act when needed, as guided by their own Safety Plan. According to Talmage Clubbs, Director of Counseling for Neosho District in Missouri, “Our students know about it [student safety K-12 tool]. We have students purposely typing in keywords so they can be pulled in and talked to about their suicidality, their mental health issues, anything like that because they are struggling, and they just don’t know how else to reach anybody.”

Another example where human intervention is essential is when a machine learning-powered solution flags anatomical text as explicit content, but this might be for legitimate science coursework. Human reviewers can verify educational intent by examining context like student age and subject.

In the 2022-2023 school year, 94% of public schools report providing digital devices, such as laptops or tablets, to students according to the National Center for Education Statistics. This is a 28% growth from the number of devices provided pre-pandemic in middle schools and a 52% growth for elementary school students. As students spend more time online for school, they also use these devices for extracurricular learning and making social connections. However, they also have easier access to inappropriate content online. The challenges of ensuring online safety have become increasingly complex, as more students may seek harmful information or engage in distressing or inappropriate behaviors.

To truly support all students — regardless of their socioeconomic background or technological literacy — in the digital age, solutions must be user-friendly and adaptable to the diverse needs of schools and districts. By collaborating — educators, technology providers like GoGuardian, and policymakers can create a future where AI enhances educational experiences for students, fosters healthy human connection and empathy, and ensures privacy.

This also supports educators in today’s digital world who require innovative safety and security solutions to enable students to thrive physically, mentally, and academically while ensuring their well-being and academic progress. “You can rest well at night, knowing you are changing districts and saving lives,” says Dr. Jim Cummins, Superintendent of Neosho District.

To learn more, visit GoGuardian.com

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December 6, 2024
HEDx Podcast: Time to partner with students and tech – Episode 147

The last episode from HEDx’s Future Solutions conference features interim pro-vice-chancellor of teaching and learning at the University of Queensland Professor Kelly Mathews.

She joins Martin Betts to discuss a survey of over 8000 university students about how they use artificial intelligence.

She is followed by a panel that included deputy vice-chancellor (education and students) at the University of Technology Sydney Kylie Readman, deputy vice-chancellor (academic) at Deakin University Professor Lix Johnson, vice-chancellor of Western Sydney University George Williams, president of Torrens University Linda Brown of Torrens, and industry executive of higher education at Microsoft Katie Ford.

They call on universities to partner with students and the tech company eco-system. Is HE brave enough to get out of its lane?

Do you have an idea for a story?
Email [email protected]

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December 4, 2024
Solutions for Students Skipping Classes: Tips to Boost Performance

High education institutions and colleges are trying hard to suppress student skipping rates to boost performance and improve education standards. Management is trying hard to tackle truancy by imposing strict penalties on students skipping classes. Suspensions can only count as time missed from classroom instructions. Parents also face a blitz on attendance, and they are trying to keep students in higher education.

No more students skipping classes – try these out!

With nearly 25% of students admitting to skipping classes, we have churned out 10 sure-fire ways to tackle the issue behind students skipping classes. Easy to adopt, try these out for a result in a split-second.

Techniques to tackle students skipping classes

Monitor Attendance

This is practically the first and foremost way when trying to clock in to stop students from skipping classes. Monitoring attendance at high education is not new. Forget the days when faculty used to pass a piece of paper around the classroom to check attendance. It was ideally to support students who silently disengage. But trust us, of the hundreds of students attending lectures, 10-20% can even be missing without the lecturer realizing. Do not think of suspensions – for even they count as time missed from classroom instructions. Having an attendance policy in place works better! With electronic registrations, there can be a more structured attendance pattern. RFID-based attendance management system tracks unauthorized absence or lateness of higher education students in real-time. This will reduce the scenario of students skipping classes keep up-to-date records for all courses and improve student outcomes.

Track Discipline

When it comes to tackling the problem of chronic absenteeism, students who already have a track record of skipping class can be a particularly tough crowd to sway. So infectious they could be! The overall strategy for tackling such high education absenteeism should be to prioritize discipline. Getting into a friendly discussion helps. Figure out ways to help such students. Pool in mentors! Take complete ownership. Alternatively, manage and track behavior incidents of students using discipline software and generate automated reports for quicker decision-making.

Parent Communication

Get parents involved! This can be a way to reduce tardiness amidst such irregular students. Increased communication with parents will curb the notion of students skipping classes. Today, there are many parents connect software that provides real-time access to student’s academic information.

Manage Assessments

Another reason for students to skip classes could be their exam anxiety. If these classic signs of test uneasiness fill your classroom, attendance muddles will be there. Make assessments tension-free by creating online tests and assignments and sharing results with students and parents often. This will reduce the rising numbers of withdrawals from assessments and remove fears and inhibitions from students and parents.

Review of Curriculum

Hard to believe, but yes attendance truancy could be a result of the ill-fitting curriculum too. Teachers can review the curriculum and align the portfolio of courses to deliver quality learning for the institution. The curriculum management system provides student access to all the relevant course and curriculum data.

Smart Classrooms

Students feel aloof when teachers do not spend little or quality time with them. With smart classrooms paperwork gets eliminated, enabling teachers to spend quality time to improve teaching and learning.

Teacher Evaluations

Never neglect students who are chronically absent themselves – be all ears and resolve it at the earliest. This strategy works better! Analyze the teacher’s effectiveness in classrooms with a strong evaluation system and set performance goals to improve their skills. An ineffective faculty is but a drabby asset to the class. After all, it is they who matter the most in the classroom.

Role-based Security

The high education management system provides role-based authorization which facilitates discipline and eliminates privacy concerns of students. This information is protected and will be visible only to the targeted students or groups. Parents will be able to access and see the information about his or her children.

Event Management

Turn mundane days into gripping ones by scheduling events and announcements! With many departments and units, scheduling an event might seem like a task. Using an online calendar can be a lifesaver here. With such a calendar in place, make instant academic information available to students, teachers, parents, and alumni for specific purposes.

Automated Notifications

Don’t wait for the students to turn up the next day to notify them. Sending mass notifications with pre-built templates helps! Dish it out to students, teachers, staff, and parents via email, SMS alerts, and push notifications.

How Creatrix Campus Cloud Can Transform Your Institution and Simplify Student Life

Here’s a tip: Cloud and mobile technology can tackle regular and chronic absenteeism and benefit in many ways. They drastically result in increased attendance rate, improved student performance, reduced staff workload, and improved efficiencies of the institution.

Creatrix Campus offers the most advanced cloud and mobile-based cloud suite of solutions designed for higher education institutes. Adaptable, it easily integrates with other modules and provides secure access to track all your information in a single unified system.

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November 28, 2024
Supporting Students Formerly in Foster Care
Title: Addressing Challenges and Support for Youth Formerly in Foster Care

Author: Ellie Taylor

Source: Trellis Strategies

Youth formerly in foster care (YFFC) face complex and heightened demands with regard to postsecondary education. In a new brief from Trellis Strategies, the author discusses the distinct needs of YFFC who pursue higher education.

Trellis Strategies’ 2023 Student Financial Wellness Survey found that YFFC have considerably lower levels of food security compared to their peers, while the share of housing insecure YFFC students is 28 percentage points higher than that of non-YFFC students. Additionally, more than seven in 10 YFFC students did not know if their institutions had aid programs for them.

Most institutions do not have a means of identifying YFFC if they do not first identify themselves, complicating their ability to help students. However, less than 40 percent of students who indicated their YFFC status on their FAFSA reported receiving more funding. While 18 percent of students knew about institutional aid opportunities and 25 percent knew about state aid opportunities, 63 and 54 percent of students who were aware of these programs, respectively, participated in them.

The report highlights four key policy recommendations:
- Fund and appoint liaisons for YFFC. Institutions should have a full-time staff member dedicated to supporting YFFC students.
- Cultivate more awareness of support for students. Develop and sustain communication between higher education institutions and foster programs in order to build a robust awareness of resources for YFFC students and identify YFFC students.
- Develop accessible programs for YFFC. Make programs, including trauma-informed counseling and academic support, convenient and free for YFFC.
- Offer food and housing assistance. Designate specific housing for YFFC and provide aid to ease the financial burden of housing and food.
Read the full report here.

—Kara Seidel

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November 23, 2024