Business schools and universities have a responsibility to educate students, but also to ensure that students have the support they need throughout their academic journey. Identifying students at risk of falling behind—whether academically, socially, or emotionally—is critical to providing timely interventions to improve student outcomes. The challenge lies in recognizing the early warning signs, which often stem from both academic and non-academic engagement factors, as well as student sentiment.

We’ll explore how universities and colleges can leverage digital tools to identify students at risk of dropping out, enabling them to proactively  support those that need it, when they need it.

Academic Engagement: Key Indicators

Academic performance is one of the most straightforward ways to identify at-risk students. However, academic engagement goes far beyond grades, including indicators such as class attendance, participation in discussions, and the timely submission of assignments.

A sudden decrease in any of these activities can signal that a student is struggling. Whether due to academic challenges, personal issues, or a combination of both, these changes in behavior often precede more significant problems like failing grades or withdrawal from courses. By monitoring academic engagement, institutions can catch these issues early and offer targeted interventions, such as tutoring, academic advising, or more personalized learning strategies.

Co-Curricular Engagement: A Broader View

While academic engagement is important, a complete picture of student success also requires monitoring co-curricular engagement. This includes involvement in extracurricular activities, student clubs and organizations, community service, and social events on campus. Co-curricular engagement can often be a reflection of how connected and supported students feel within their community.

For example, a student who becomes less involved in campus life or stops attending events they previously enjoyed may be experiencing burnout, social isolation, or mental health struggles. Identifying these shifts in behavior allows institutions to provide emotional or social support, such as counseling or mentoring, which can help students re-engage both socially and academically.

Sentiment Analysis: Understanding Emotional Well-Being

Beyond engagement metrics, tracking student sentiment is another powerful tool for identifying students at risk. Sentiment analysis can capture how students feel about their experience at the institution—whether they’re stressed, overwhelmed, or lacking a sense of belonging. By analyzing patterns in communication, social media interactions, or responses to feedback surveys, institutions can gauge emotional well-being and identify students who may need additional support.

Monitoring sentiment is particularly important because emotional distress often manifests as disengagement from both academic and social activities. By understanding how students are feeling, schools can intervene before these feelings negatively impact academic performance or lead to dropout.

The Importance of Student Experience Platforms

To effectively track these indicators—academic engagement, co-curricular involvement, and sentiment—it’s crucial that institutions provide a student experience platform that students use regularly. When these platforms become a part of students’ daily routines, they can continuously capture interactions, giving institutions real-time data that highlights early signs of disengagement.

We’ve seen over 90% adoption and active daily usage of student experience platforms, ensuring that this data is consistently tracked. When this data is centralized, institutions can more easily spot patterns and identify at-risk students who may otherwise go unnoticed.

Proactive, Data-Driven Support

A centralized platform like CampusGroups not only tracks engagement data but also allows institutions to set up rubrics for identifying at-risk students based on key indicators like declining academic performance, reduced participation in campus life, or negative sentiment. Institutions can establish clear thresholds for concern and trigger alerts when students show signs of disengagement.

Moreover, these platforms enable schools to create automated workflows that guide staff through the best practices for intervening in each case. Whether it’s academic tutoring, mental health support, or career counseling, workflows ensure that students receive the right kind of support at the right time. This structured approach allows institutions to respond quickly and effectively to the needs of at-risk students, improving outcomes.

For institutions to effectively support at-risk students, a digital platform that tracks both academic and co-curricular engagement, as well as student sentiment, is essential. 

CampusGroups provides a powerful, all-in-one solution that allows institutions to capture and analyze this critical data. With hundreds of institutions and millions of students using CampusGroups worldwide, schools can confidently identify and support at-risk students, ensuring they receive the help they need to thrive.

To learn more about how CampusGroups can help your institution support at-risk students, visit our website.