Improving higher education digital experiences: Students want excellent online services

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  Quantumrun Foresight
• January 12, 2024

Insight highlights

Declining enrollment and high dropout rates are often driven by student expectations for excellent digital experiences, with the majority expecting online offerings to be on par with or superior to physical lessons. Improving the digital experience in higher education has wide-ranging implications, including a more connected student community, increased employability, reduced environmental impact, and democratizing education through digital platforms.

Improving higher ed digital experience context

Universities are grappling with declining enrollment and high dropout rates, issues that could be addressed through more engaging and personalized learning experiences facilitated by artificial intelligence. As AI expert Lasse Rouhiainen discussed in the Harvard Business Review, AI trained with big data can deliver a customized learning experience, helping professors understand how students learn differently. In the future, AI could even interpret students' facial expressions to assess their understanding of lessons.

Student expectations are definitely changing when it comes to digital experiences. According to the 2022 Higher Education Digital Experience Report, 91 percent of students anticipate that a university's online offerings should be on par, if not superior, to its physical lessons. The majority think a good digital experience can assist them in effectively managing their overall university life (92 percent), enhancing academic performance (90 percent), fostering a sense of belonging to the university (86 percent), and safeguarding their mental health (86 percent).

In particular, Generation Z tends to have high standards for digital experiences. Their expectations for digital service design, user interface experiences, and personalization are heavily influenced by prominent tech-savvy brands that have successfully set the bar high in these areas. In the report, 67 percent of respondents expect their university's digital experiences to be on par with services like Facebook, Amazon, or Netflix.

Disruptive impact

Digital experiences present a potent instrument for universities to gain insights into students' perspectives and behaviors, as well as to offer tailored support. The intensified focus on various aspects, from academic achievement to mental health, presents a vast opportunity for intelligent data gathering and utilization. These opportunities include providing personalized digital content and services, refining service design through enhanced insights, or facilitating timely interventions for students in need. However, while some universities have progressed more in this data-driven journey, most have not fully leveraged these potentials yet.

Educational institutions that chose to prioritize student customer service are seeing encouraging results. For example, Georgia State University implemented an AI chatbot called Pounce in 2016 to combat "summer melt," a phenomenon where students drop out after spring enrollment. Partnering with AdmitHub, the university aimed to support low-income and first-generation students who needed individual attention and financial aid. 

Pounce was programmed to address common enrollment obstacles such as financial aid applications and class registration, providing 24/7 assistance. As a result, "summer melt" decreased by 22 percent, leading to an additional 324 students attending fall classes. Pounce's workload included providing over 200,000 answers to incoming freshmen, a task that would have required 10 full-time staff members without the chatbot's support.

Implications of improving higher ed digital experience

Wider implications of improving higher ed digital experience may include: 

• A more connected and engaged student community, leading to more employment and educational opportunities.


• A positive digital experience leading to students excelling and thus increasing their employability, resulting in a future-ready workforce. 


• Students becoming more inclined to participate in digital political processes as a result of their increasing digital literacy, such as online voting or political discussions on digital platforms, promoting more widespread civic engagement.


• Equitable opportunities for people across diverse geographic and socioeconomic backgrounds, helping to mitigate demographic disparities in education access and outcomes.


• Technological innovation and development, leading to advancements in intelligent chatbots, personal online tutors, and virtual reality lessons.


• More online learning and less need for physical infrastructures, thereby reducing the carbon footprint associated with building and maintaining physical campuses.


• The democratization of education through digital means leading to increased cross-cultural understanding and collaboration. Exposure to diverse perspectives and experiences through digital platforms can also foster cultural sensitivity and global awareness.

Questions to consider

• If you’re a student, how is your school implementing a better digital experience?


• What other ways can universities make things easier for students in terms of online tools?