A new study reveals that the quality of a student’s experience with campus technology has a significant impact on their decision to enroll or even continue their education. The study, “Tech Troubles: How Technology-Student Interactions Impact Retention,” conducted by Inside Higher Ed in collaboration with Collegis Education, surveyed 450 U.S. students on their opinions about the technology they use every day. Respondents included students from a cross-section of public and private four-year schools, technical schools, and community colleges, who are learning online, in person, and in hybrid modes.

“Technology affects virtually every aspect of a learner’s higher education experience these days –– even those students who are studying primarily in person on physical campuses,” said Doug Lederman, editor and co-founder of Inside Higher Ed. “This important report by my colleagues at IHE and Times Higher Education and our partners at Collegis shows just how much an institution’s technology practices and policies can influence the learner experience –– for good or ill.” 

Key findings include:

• More than 40 percent of college students who have had frustrating experiences with school technology report that these issues could impact their decision to enroll for another term and 39 percent said it will impact whether they continue to take classes at all. 
• However, students might not apply or enroll at all after an unfavorable experience with a school’s website. More than a quarter of students reported some level of difficulty with the process of researching and applying to their program of choice on an institution’s website. 
• While online learning has certainly grown in recent years, students don’t seem to be having the experience they expect. A significant segment of respondents noted frequent or very frequent delays, outages, and slow connection speeds with online learning platforms. Seventy percent of in-person learners and 79 percent of online learners said these issues affect their learning experience to some extent. 
• More than half of students reported that digital poverty, outdated hardware and software, lack of IT support, and low digital literacy impact their learning experience.

“Today’s students bring high expectations for technology with them when they arrive on campus –– whether in-person or online. Yet, our study found that those expectations are often not met, resulting in frustration and, at times, decisions to not continue their education or not apply and enroll at all,” said Jason Nairn, vice president of information technology and security, Collegis. “With technology woven into every aspect of learning –– from interactions with administrators to countless on- and off-campus experiences –– it is critical that higher ed leaders view technology not as a utility, but as an asset with a powerful impact on student persistence and retention. Attention to providing a positive technology experience for prospective and current students is crucial to the future of many colleges and universities.”

A copy of the full study can be downloaded at https://collegiseducation.com/insights/student-experience/tech-troubles-how-technology-student-interactions-impact-retention-ihe-report.