How Can Higher Ed Administrators Ensure Data Quality in Their College Admission Management Software When Collecting Education History Information From Applicants?

When it comes to collecting education history data from applicants, colleges and universities are often mired down by inaccurate information that was provided by applicants in an incomplete or abbreviated form during their application process. This can occur because the applicant portal in their college admission management software does not enforce a consistent format when collecting education history information, and prospective students are left to their own devices when typing the names of their previous high schools and colleges.

Data Integrity Issues in College Admission Management Software

Without the proper controls, mayhem often ensues as applicants from the same institution spell or abbreviate their school’s name in different ways. The end result is that higher ed institutions are unable to run reports about applicants from a specific feeder school because the data in the CRM system is unreliable. Colleges and universities must first comb through their college admission management software to verify that every record was accounted for, because a misspelled high school or college name will result in an applicant being omitted from the report.

A Better Way to Ensure the Quality of College Admission Management Software Data

What if the college admission management software required applicants to select from searchable fields that query the CRM system and return only the values that match the requirements? What if the forms that collected education history information were able to display the names of the educational institutions that are already in the CRM system, and allow applicants to select the appropriate and correct record for their application? This approach ensures that applicants are selecting the correct high school or college for their education history, as well as maintaining data quality from a reporting perspective by enforcing consistent record selection across different applicants.

The following video highlights an approach that Enrollment Rx clients might use to leverage Salesforce’s Experience Cloud to power an applicant portal and collect education history information effectively:

Please contact Enrollment Rx to learn more about our approach to college admission management software success.