Virginia's Community Colleges Select EAB Navigate to Support On-Time Completion

WASHINGTON, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Virginia's Community Colleges (VCCS) selected EAB Navigate to help implement and scale onboarding and advising supports for its 252,000 students, EAB announced today.  Part of a greater student success strategy, VCCS colleges have been working towards an ambitious strategic goal of tripling the number of credentials earned by the year 2021 (Complete 2021).

VCCS leaders selected EAB Navigate as a tool to help students make informed career and major decisions as the first step in their academic journey.  EAB Navigate provides a structured onboarding experience and student-centered tools to help students develop clear academic plans, understand their time to degree completion, and communicate with advisors.  In addition, EAB Navigate's advising and administrative tools help colleges improve business processes and advising supports. 

The technology helps students create a course schedule that takes into account their ambitions, as well as their class, study, work, and personal commitments.  The platform also nudges students to take other steps that will increase the likelihood that they will succeed.

Without taking the time to thoughtfully plan, students often spend more time in college than needed.  The average community college student earns more than 20 excess credits pursuing a 60-credit associate degree; nationally, students pay $7.7 billion dollars a year for courses that do not count toward their credentials, according to Complete College America, a national nonprofit focused on closing attainment gaps for traditionally underrepresented populations. 

"It is important that community colleges give students intense support before school starts, so students can identify their career goals and choose an academic plan that will get them there quickly," said Scott Schirmeier, executive vice president at EAB.  "Navigate makes this type of intentional, individualized assistance possible on a large scale by providing students with a self-service platform driven by data and analytics."

About EAB 
EAB is a best practices firm that uses a combination of research, technology, and data-enabled services to improve the performance of more than 1,200 educational institutions.  A division of The Advisory Board Company ABCO, EAB forges and finds the best new ideas and proven practices from its network of thousands of leaders, then customizes and hardwires them into every level of member organizations, creating enduring value.  EAB was recently awarded the Complete College America Seal of Approval and the American Association of Community Colleges 2017 Innovation Award for its work in the two-year sector.  For more information, visit www.eab.com.

About Virginia's Community Colleges
Since 1966, Virginia's Community Colleges have given everyone the opportunity to learn and develop the right skills so lives and communities are strengthened.  By making higher education and workforce training available in every part of Virginia, we elevate all of Virginia.  Together, Virginia's Community Colleges serve more than 252,000 students each year.  For more information, please visit www.vccs.edu.

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SOURCE The Advisory Board Company