With the education industry becoming more dynamic, along with the diverse job market, academic counseling is the need of the hour for every student. Academic counselors detangle education-related complexities of students - starting from finding a student the right course, picking the best university, making students more aware of the fee structure and the course dynamics, and also helping out in the entire application process. The typical process of academic counseling has not always been successful in helping students to decide their correct career path. This is primarily due to limited knowledge and analysis based on prediction at large.

However, the scenario is slowly changing, and many contemporary educational advisors are using the process of data analytics, followed by a method of predictive analysis, in providing concrete career solutions. Implementation of data analytics by school educational counselors has led to a massive decline in the number of college dropouts, thereby increasing the number of graduates in many parts across the world.

The main idea behind introducing data analysis in academic counseling is taking into account available data on a student, such as their performance, interests, financial condition, and several other factors. These factors ultimately add up to help out a student pick their desired field of higher education, finally befitting their career goals.

WAYS IN WHICH DATA ANALYTICS CAN BE USED EFFICIENTLY BY ACADEMIC COUNSELORS

Educational counselors have to cater to the ever-changing needs of an increased number of students every year. They don’t have much information about a student or their background that they are counseling. Not being aware can lead to providing inefficient services in deciding something of this weightage. Quite often, students who need help do not end up seeking it, and this causes further problems in the future. Sometimes the methods of conversing and running a few tests to determine a career may not be as efficient as data-driven methods. Here are three main ways in which data analytics can efficiently help academic counselors in achieving the desired goals:

1. Deeper insights into students requirements
   Data analytics takes into account the student’s background information, demographics, interests, behavior, motivational factors, engagements, and many other factors over many years of his or her lifespan. Then they are matched with their performances to derive the desired results. It builds a healthy relationship between a student’s success and his or her behavioral patterns. Counseling using data analytics also bridges the gap between limited knowledge and endless opportunities.

2. Identifying and providing targeted services
   Data analytics can help in identifying students who do not have a defined career pathway. Identification will lead to early interventions, which in turn can help in providing services that are more targeted and help the students in determining a career path based on the data using predictive analytics. This then ultimately educates students to achieve their desired career goals and prevents them from deterring from their pathway. Academic counselors can also identify which students are more likely to drop out or are more likely to succeed in sports or other cultural activities. The options for achieving success shouldn’t be limited to academic progress only.

3. Personalised education plan
   Data analytics can help academic counselors in creating a customised education plan based on facts for every individual student by assessing their skills, performance, and aptitude. Personalising educational programs based on this will change the outlook of every individual’s approach towards education. It will lead to a student studying only those subjects in a course that is in sync with their career path or their specific interests.

WAYS BY WHICH STUDENTS CAN BENEFIT FROM INFORMED DECISIONS

For years, students have faced difficulties in choosing a career pathway in which they will succeed. Despite seeking professional help from educational advisors quite often, students have kept changing their courses in their respective universities. They have also kept changing their chosen field of study or even dropped out. Addressing these challenges is crucial in the present times. Most individuals have ultimately struggled and searched endlessly for years before settling for a career that best fits their interests and skills. Data analytics can make the whole process of decision making much more scientific, and here are a few of the ways by which it can help students:

1. Finding the right educational program
   The whole process of data analytics in academic counseling depends on analysing the data in hand to understand the requirements of every individual student and using a large amount of data to find the best fit. There is no knowledge restriction on the part of advisers while suggesting a course in a university that best fits the student, keeping in mind all the pre-analysed factors.

2. Individual assistance
   Students who need help, for example, students with no pre-determined career paths or conflicting interests, can now receive real assistance. Individual assistance also means getting a customised education plan as per their career goals and interests. This would benefit students and prevent them from choosing the wrong course or changing their course multiple times while pursuing education beyond the barriers of schools.

3. Greater chance of success
   Data analytics can help an academic counselor in clearly defining the career goals of a student, guaranteeing a higher chance of a student succeeding in their selected field. Receiving individual assistance again can help students align education with their respective career goals, helping to keep the student motivated to achieve success in the chosen career. Inevitably, there is a reduction in drop-out rates.

Academic counseling needs to move in parallel with data analytics. The reputation of an institution lies in the success of its students, and a student’s success is highly dependent on defining career goals and implementing efficient academic counseling in every educational institution. Make data analytics a reality for your students and help them achieve all their dreams today.