Well, when we first introduced the application of analytics in higher ed, most people think this is an absurd thought.  However, if one now browses the “word” analytics, she or he will get many pages to read on the internet.

In higher ed industry, the ideas of applying education analytics is just to begin, after AAEA published stunning research findings in 2013.  However, the application of analytics at higher ed institutions is still focusing on data visualization.  Needless to say that data visualization is not the same with education data analytics, which we specifically called it IRI–Institutional Research Intelligence.  Some schools are trying to hire professional with a special blend or set of skills and experiences.  But the market cannot supply enough of them.  There are also institutional barriers to change from data visualization to data analytics.  Most of the leaderships in the OIR who are currently in the “position” to make the change are coming from the old school.

The old IR (OIR) profession is trying to survive and start embracing the AAEA’s ideas and move toward data-informed.  However, for many years, this branch of profession only focusing on reporting, period.   Therefore, there are so many problems that have been created, and one of the biggest problems is rising the College Cost because of  inefficiency.

Efficiency is not the focus of the OIR, as the Association has mentioned above, its focus is only on traditional reporting such as IPEDS or sharing their data to institutions such as USNEWS or Peterson’s.  Therefore, the US families have suffered from the rising college cost that have forced them to co-sign or take loans and then get trapped into student loan debt.