AI helps students graduate from college

Hillsborough (FL) Community College uses SAS^® Visual Analytics to determine what students need to complete their degrees

One out of every 18 jobs in the United States are supported by an alumnus of a community college. With more than 1,600 community college campuses in the United States, an increasing number of students are turning to community colleges for their educational needs. Affordability is a significant factor for many students, and according to the American Association of Community Colleges, students can expect to save more than $7,000 a year in tuition by attending community college instead of a four-year institution for their general education classes. Community colleges often provide and affordable education with flexible class schedules, allowing students to work part-time or attend classes while fulfilling other commitments. Furthermore, community colleges often collaborate with local industries, offering practical, job-oriented programs that directly prepare students for the workforce. Overall, the combination of cost-effectiveness, flexibility, and practical training makes community colleges an attractive option for many students seeking a quality education.

Community colleges also play an important role in making education equitable and promoting greater skill in the overall workforce. The American Association of Community Colleges reports 30% of people enrolled at community colleges are first-generation college students. Additionally, students who graduate with an associate degree are found to earn $9,600 more per year than peers with only a high school diploma.

To support these efforts, Hillsborough Community College (HCC) in Tampa, FL, is on a mission to “promote a thriving community in which students achieve their full potential by providing access to an affordable, innovative, high quality and lifelong education.” Founded in 1968, Hillsborough is the fifth-largest community college in Florida and serves more than 45,000 students. Now, HCC is turning to business intelligence (BI) and artificial intelligence (AI) to help more students graduate.

“If you believe that college credentials are a gateway to a better life by breaking intergenerational cycles of poverty and to increasing social and economic mobility, increasing college completion is very important,” says Paul Nagy, Vice President for Strategic Planning and Analysis for HCC. “Some of the most notable think tanks in this country like the Lumina Foundation have established a goal that 60% of the working age population have a college credential by 2025 to prepare for an equitable and global workforce. Right now, we’re at about 53%. We’ve made a lot of progress, but we still have a long way to go in two years. So, we’ve got to find innovative ways to grow educational attainment."

Using AI to help students graduate

In recent years, HCC began exploring innovative ways to help more students graduate. One key student demographic the school identified was “near grads” – students within one semester of graduating but who have not attended classes in more than a year. HCC wanted to find out why these students had not completed their degrees and to equip them to graduate.

Employees of HCC created an AI chatbot linked with its business intelligence in SAS Visual Analytics to work with near grads. They affectionally named the bot Gwen after HCC’s sixth president, the late Dr. Gwendolyn Stephenson. Gwen reaches out to students about their academic status and encourages them to reenroll and complete their programs. With access to student records imported from SAS Visual Analytics and a keen understanding of questions, requests and jokes, Gwen can converse effectively with thousands of students at once.

Gwen meets students where they are and is available when they are, which democratizes access to academic advisement for students who work during the day or are sole caretakers unable to talk with an advisor during traditional business hours. Additionally, Gwen answers questions about how many credits a student needs to graduate and which classes they still need to complete, and then registers the student for those classes. The AI can also recommend support services available through HCC like child care, financial aid and transportation.

After HCC’s first effort with Gwen, 187 students reenrolled and 151 either completed degrees or completed classes that got them one step closer to graduating.

The road to completion with business intelligence

In addition to the advent of Gwen, HCC expanded its use of SAS to develop Auto Grad. Auto Grad identifies students who have already completed enough courses for a certification or degree but have not applied for graduation. Now, students automatically receive notification of program completion and earn their credentials.

“With Auto Grad, we’ve been able to increase our college completions from 3,600 completions about 14 years ago to 7,600 today with the same total enrollment,” says Nagy. “With the same number of students, we’ve seen a 109% increase in completion, which means we’re increasing at scale and making a difference.”

The future of Gwen AI and SAS BI

In the future, HCC hopes to continue finding innovative ways to use data and AI to help more students graduate. The college aspires to expand its existing efforts to provide individualized service across the student life cycle – from matriculation to graduation and beyond to university transfer and employment. It will do so by using Gwen as a powerful adjunct to its human team. Further, HCC is migrating its SAS BI to a cloud environment which will unlock potential for further innovation such as establishment of a fluid data share with its transfer partner – the University of South Florida.

“SAS’ slogan ‘The Power to Know’ often reminds me of the Maya Angelou quote that says that if you know better, you must do better,” concludes Nagy. “So the SAS slogan resonates with me because I believe our work at HCC is more than simply generating insights, and these data points represent real change in people’s lives. Every increase means more students are getting credentials – so they can get good jobs and they have more pathways to upward mobility.”