Engagement is somewhat of a buzzword, both in the business world and in the world of higher education. Student engagement may have to be defined anew every time, just because there are differing opinions as to what it means. Still, there is merit in knowing what it is and how to achieve it.

For higher education institutions, student retention and engagement largely determine whether a newly recruited and enrolled student will stay on campus or not. Students who are more engaged tend to do better academically, which is a win-win situation for both the student and the institution. But many factors affect student engagement, and some of them may not be obvious. One such example is correct student data. Let’s have a look at what student engagement is, and how data might affect it:

Frequent Data Errors on Campuses

Data errors in higher education institutions are almost an everyday thing. The most common are incomplete or missing data as well as outdated information. It poses a problem because if a campus doesn’t have complete data on a student, it’s impossible to engage them. With e-mail being the top communication channel, it’s especially crucial for email data to be clean and accurate. However, according to the results in practice, it often isn’t the case. A whopping 70 percent of higher education institutions report experiencing email deliverability problems in the past year. That means that there’s still plenty of room for improvement because many students don’t get the required information when they need it.

Impact of Contact Data on Engagement

It might seem irrelevant, but there is a connection between engagement and having correct student contact data. If a higher education institution does not have a student’s correct email, all kinds of problems may arise. 93% of students expect only to have to provide information to their institution once. The same research shows students are unhappy with the way higher education institutions are using their data. In fact, they think that they should provide more of their personal and contact information, and the colleges should make better use of it.

Using Data to Help Students

Contact data is essential to starting or maintaining virtually every process a student can take part in at college. From registering for courses and scheduling academic advising sessions to securing federal and institution-based financial aid and paying for college expenses, having correct contact data is essential for a higher education institution that wants to drive student engagement. And it extends beyond the students’ time in college, too, as 98% of them state they’d love it if their schools used their information to provide post-graduation support.

Student Contact Data Software Solutions

Runner EDQ CLEAN_Student and CLEAN_Alumni help higher education institutions keep their students happy and engaged. With the name, address and email verification, you can be sure you have the most critical student information perfectly accurate. Our solutions integrate with the platforms you may already be using to manage data, such as Colleague, Banner and PeopleSoft Campus Solutions. It doesn’t end with emails: RunnerEDQ’s solutions provide enterprise quality data that includes GeoCodes, updating and validating international addresses, list de-duplication, demographic data and plenty more.

Visit our website for more information about our student data quality solutions. It will help higher education institutions keep their student data clean and ensure increased engagement and happiness.