How to Leverage PDP AR Files for Institutional Impact

The Postsecondary Data Partnership (PDP) offers comprehensive data sets, early analysis and insights, and central reporting that can help your institution make data-informed decisions. Interactive dashboards and analysis-ready (AR) files are valuable parts of the tool. You can visualize and dig deeper into the data to see where your efforts could make the biggest impact on your campus.

In a recent webinar, “Actionable Insights with PDP AR Files & Power BI,” Monte Schaff, Dean of Enrollment Management at United Tribes Technical College (UTTC), shared how he leverages AR cohort data and Microsoft Power BI to get deeper insights and research-specific metrics.

Identifying Key Takeaways

Schaff demonstrated his use of Microsoft Power BI, which included a homemade cohort BI template that helps him understand the PDP AR cohort file. He followed this with a discussion on how the template also helps him examine and incorporate other data sets.

The two main takeaways from the webinar were:

1. Transforming Student Data: Through interactive dashboards and visualizations, the PDP’s AR files and Power BI can transform overwhelming student data into actionable insights.
2. Combining Data Insights: Combining cohort data from PDP AR files with other institutional data sets — such as retention, course, and application data — can reveal valuable insights and opportunities to improve enrollment strategies and target student outreach.

“The real power in BI is that you can use relationships,” said Schaff during the webinar. “Remember, you are getting student level data from the PDP, so those AR course and cohort files have student level data within them. That opens up additional opportunities for analysis by combining [PDP AR file data with] other institutional data.”

Pursuing Greater Goals

For Schaff, the goal is not only to transform the student data and combine data insights. Leveraging both the PDP AR files and BI is a useful and important step in helping UTTC achieve its greater goals.

“There was gold within the data … a good portion of it for me is within data application,” noted Schaff.

Schaff said he would ask, “What else can I do with the data and where will that lead me?” In response to that question, his team identified the following action items:

• Re-engage students who didn’t enroll anywhere
• Encourage associate degree holders to pursue bachelor’s degrees

This process of analysis and application, as described by Schaff, is a “journey” that starts by looking at the cohort data files.

Watch the On-Demand Webinar

Register to watch “Actionable Insights with PDP AR Files & Power BI” on-demand and learn how you can better use your AR files from the PDP.

“Remember, you are getting student level data from the PDP, so those AR course and cohort files have student level data within them. That opens up additional opportunities for analysis by combining [PDP AR file data with] other institutional data.”

Monte Schaff
Dean of Enrollment Management, United Tribes Technical College