2024 EDUCAUSE Analytics Landscape Study

Published:: Thursday, September 26, 2024
: Briefs, Case Studies, Papers, Reports

Author(s) and Contributors:: Author(s): Nicole Muscanell

Source(s) and Collection(s):: Sources(s): EDUCAUSE Research Collection(s): Research Report

ParentTopics:: Analytics Artificial Intelligence (AI) Business Intelligence (BI) Data Administration and Management Data Curation Data Governance Data Literacy Learning Analytics Strategic Planning Student Success

The 2024 EDUCAUSE Analytics Landscape Study summarizes the “current state of affairs” of analytics in higher education, taking a look at several key areas of analytics:

Specific use cases
Readiness in data and analytics-related practices and capabilities
Analytics workforce capabilities
Strategic efforts toward analytics
Policies and processes governing institutional analytics practices
Department/unit and stakeholder roles and engagement
Barriers and challenges to using analytics
Current institutional resources supporting the use of analytics

Read full report | Other materials

Want to share this report? Use our toolkit.

Sentiments Toward Analytics

Image showing how respondents feel toward analytics: Skeptical/Cautious: 4%, Neutral: 6%, Interested: 34%, Fully committed / actively investing: 45%, Mixed: 11% — **Perceptions of Institutional Leaders’ Attitude Toward Analytics**

A majority of respondents (79%) feel that their institutional leaders are interested in or are fully committed to analytics.

Use Cases & Users

**Extent to Which Analytics Is Used to Inform Operational Functions**

The most frequent use of analytics is to inform specific operational functions such as admissions/enrollments and compliance with accreditation standards and regulatory requirements.

Resources and Support

**Access to Support and Resources for Analytics, by Institution Size**

Respondents from smaller institutions have lower levels of access to resources and support for their use of analytics.

Learn more about resources and support >

Workforce

Bar chart showing that across the five types of analytics, pluralities of respondents said their institution has staff assigned to analytics but not solely dedicated to analytics. — **Staffing Capabilities, by Analytics Type**

Institutions are lacking in dedicated analytics leadership and staff positions. Majorities said their institution does not have a chief analytics officer (69%) or a chief data officer (57%).

Strategic Planning and Governance

**Perceptions of Analytics Strategic and Governance Capabilities**

Analytics is a strategic priority, but governance is lacking. Majorities of respondents said that at their institution analytics is considered to be a strategic priority (69%) and necessary for effective decision-making (67%).

Analytics and AI

**Percentage of Respondents Reporting Using AI Tools to Support Analytics**

AI tools are slowly gaining traction in higher education analytics. In line with findings related to strategy and use of newly integrated AI tools, we found that relatively small numbers of institutions are using AI tools to support analytics.

Opportunities

Improving analytics capabilities and efforts would provide many opportunities. Respondents in general seem to understand the potentially far-reaching impact of data and analytics at their institution.

Explore the chart of opportunities >

Recommendations and Resources

What actions can institutions take to improve their analytics capabilities? Respondents identified both immediate and longer-term/ongoing actions that their institutions could feasibly take to improve their analytics capabilities and efforts.

Explore the list of recommendations and resources >