What can Google Trends Tell You About Your Institution? Michael Leitson Institutional Research

Background Trends of search terms Flu outbreaks Research by geography

Institutional Queries Tuition Finding information Major changes

Action Steps Make more visible: Academic Calendar Library Hours Schedule of classes Other current student information

Drop Deadline 70% of returning students compose of 90% of dropped students Nelnet

Seven significant predictors Institutional GPA <3.0 Associate Degree Male Not Pell Eligible Underclassmen Non-Health Sciences/Education College Minority Status

Action Steps Personally inform high-risk dropped students about Nelnet Look into more scholarships for at-risk students Check up on high-risk students twice per year

Major Changes 45% of incoming First-Time Freshmen have different graduating major How can we identify predictors of changing majors?

Guess the Two Predictors Gender Race Residency status Commuter status First Generation Pell Eligible Hours Attempted First Term AP/CLEP/DE Hours ROTC status HS GPA SAT score Financial aid received

Guess the Two Predictors Gender Race Residency status Commuter status First Generation Pell Eligible Hours Attempted First Term AP/CLEP/DE Hours ROTC status HS GPA SAT score Financial aid received

“AP” Hours

First Generation

Action Steps Contact high schools to encourage more AP courses Cluster major changes Create “major fair”, specifically for undecided/non first generation students

Explore your institution Search for trends within your institution

Questions?