Facebook Meets Predictive Analytics

By Eric Hoover. Last week Samford University sent a round of acceptances to applicants, and soon each of them will receive an invitation to join the Class of 2017′s Facebook group. Students who do so will be able to make friends, form social groups, and ask questions questions about the Alabama university. Meanwhile, Samford’s admissions office will get data that can help them predict—and shape—enrollment outcomes.
For the last two years, Samford has used Schools App, an application for Facebook and mobile devices that was created by Inigral, a technology company. This week Inigral unveiled an enhancement called “enrollment intelligence,” an algorithm that links social media with predictive modeling. By analyzing the “social and behavioral data patterns” of students who use the app, the company can tell participating colleges “who’s likely to enroll, who’s on the fence, and who’s not likely to enroll,” says Jamie Glenn, the company’s chief executive. More...