Analytics | News

10 Universities Join Predictive Analytics Reporting Framework Project

• By Joshua Bolkan
• 09/04/12

The Predictive Analytics Reporting Framework (PAR) project, which is designed to explore the use of big data and predictive analytics to improve learning outcomes, has added 10 new participating educational institutions.

Launched by the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education's Cooperative for Educational Technologies (WCET), the project collects anonymized data from participating institutions "to create models predicting student success and momentum while in pursuit of a higher education credential," according to information released by the organization. The project currently has data from more than 1 million students and 6 million courses.

Nearly tripling the number of participating institutions from 6 to 16, the new additions include:

• Ashford University;
• Broward College;
• Capella University;
• Lone Star College System;
• Penn State World Campus;
• Sinclair Community College;
• Troy University;
• University of Central Florida;
• University of Maryland University College; and
• Western Governors University.

"With 16 participating institutions sharing over one million anonymized student records, we'll be even better able to identify trends contributing to student success, program momentum, and online course completion," said American Public University System Vice President of Research and Development and Lead Investigator for PAR Phil Ice. "The cross-section of community college, four-year, and online institutions, offering traditional to progressive and competency-based programs, will also help significantly advance our modeling capabilities."

To read an interview with WCET's Executive Director Ellen Wagner about the PAR Framework, visit campustechnology.com. To learn more about WCET, visit wcet.wiche.edu.