For several years, Aera Technology has been building a strong customer base for its decision intelligence platform in the supply chain and logistics market. Companies such as Unilever, Mars and Dell Technologies are leveraging the AI-powered decision intelligence capabilities to transform and improve their supply chain metrics.
Today, Aera has announced the introduction of its platform into a new market, Education. Aera is working with the Western Governors University (WGU). WGU is a private, non-profit online university based in Millcreek, Utah. In 2021-22, it enrolled over 112,000 students. However, like many other education establishments worldwide, it struggles with dropout rates.
The Education Data Initiative estimates that 39% of first-time, full-time bachelor’s degree-seeking students do not complete their degree program within 8 years. Aera Technology is introducing its decision intelligence engine to help WGU and students make better decisions and improve several key metrics. These metrics include:
- Close equity gaps
- Increase student course completion rates
- Improve graduation outcomes
While Gartner believes that Decision Intelligence will see mainstream adoption in the next few years. Aera Intelligence is ahead of the curve. It is already delivering real-time insights to supply chain professionals. To improve the efficiency of supply chains across order and inventory management, shipping, forecasting, and more.
Aera’s decision intelligence platform was built to be industry-agnostic at its core. It is now working with WGU on developing the skills it needs to provide the University to maximise student success.
Making a Difference in Education
Of the 176,000 students at WGU, 74% come from one or more of the underserved populations. Research from Sallie Mae, “How America Completes College 2024 report,” highlighted the top six reasons why students consider leaving school.
- Financial Challenges – 30%
- Motivation or life challenges – 24%
- Mental Health challenges – 18%
- Academic Challenges – 11%
- Social/School Life issues – 8%
- Physical Health Issues – 2%
The survey was done with the benefit of hindsight. Education establishments have spent a lot of money on schemes to help students. But if they cannot identify them and provide the right support, they will leave.
Aera Technology believes that its decision intelligence platform can change this. Joe Dery, Vice President and Dean of Western Governors University School of Technology, commented, “I am genuinely excited about bringing Decision Intelligence capabilities to Higher Education. We can now bring decision modelling together with a digitized map of the student journey, and the right AI techniques, to predict outcomes early, guiding faculty interventions at an individual level to maximize student success. This is a big step forward in using AI to improve outcomes, while keeping human decision-making at the forefront.”
Making a difference
Using the platform, Aera can better identify issues and provide insights that will help WGU course correct students. Or provide the right support at the right time to overcome the issues they face. The Aera platform will enable the University to deliver personalised support at scale. It may also help to better identify those at risk, enabling intervention actions to take place.
WGU has already conducted research that indicates that when faculty do intervene at the right time, it can improve student success. Using the data collected, Aera can help to identify where students face a decline in motivation, struggles with time management, competing life responsibilities, or a change in focus. Using this information, Aera can recommend the best kind of outreach to students to help them overcome their challenges and improve course completion rates.
Jennie Sanders, Vice President of Instruction, Western Governors University. “Aera’s leadership in Decision Intelligence provides the decision ecosystem capability we need to reinvigorate the promise of higher Education. There are many projects focused on using AI in higher Education, but we are focused on something more fundamental — empowering better decision-making at the individual level to drive completion, return, and equitable outcomes for our students at scale.”
Fred Laluyaux, Aera Technology CEO, shared, “We are proud to enable market-changing AI innovation that drives human success in higher education. Collaborating with the Western Governors University team, we are demonstrating the amazing power of Decision Intelligence and its ability to enable meaningful student and instructor outcomes and achieve new milestones for AI and human teams.”
Enterprise Times: What does this mean
19 US governors originally founded WGU and, as a nonprofit, is centred around its students and looks to continuously innovate helping its students succeed. The introduction of the Aera Technology Decision Intelligence platform has huge potential for not just WGU but also the wider education industry. Not just in the US but also elsewhere. In the UK, an increasing number of students are withdrawing from University. In the 19 OECD countries, there is an average dropout rate of 31% for students in tertiary education. The highest dropout rates are found in Hungary, New Zealand and the United States.
There is a problem for universities worldwide. Lowering dropout rates will help meet thresholds in certain countries. In retaining students, there are also significant benefits for students, universities, their families and the country as a whole. The better educated the population is, the better for the country. Education tends to raise productivity and creativity. It often stimulates entrepreneurship and technological breakthroughs helping to drive the economy.
It will be interesting to follow how Aera works with WGU and what impact the Decision Intelligence platform has on both the University and its student population.
