Foundation Models

How AI Will Revolutionize University Recommendations in High Schools

Photo by Clarisse Croset on Unsplash

One of the most exciting educational advancements is using artificial intelligence (AI) to guide high school students in choosing their future universities. AI is transforming the college counseling process by providing personalized recommendations that align with each student’s aspirations, skills, and potential. The vast data involved — from academic performance to personal preferences — can now be effectively analyzed for optimal outcomes. Considering that U.S. colleges lose nearly $16 billion annually due to student dropouts. It goes without saying that universities worldwide experience significant losses in students who were accepted through national exam processes. In the U.K., about 6% of students drop out after their first year of university, often after being admitted through national exam systems like A-levels. Globally, student attrition rates vary, with developing countries facing some of the highest dropout rates. For example, in many African and Asian nations, dropout rates can reach as high as 40–50% due to issues with institutional fit, financial pressures, or poor preparation following national entrance exams. In China, where the Gaokao national exam plays a crucial role in university admissions, dropout rates are estimated to be lower than in many Western countries but still significant, particularly in rural areas where students may struggle to adapt to university life despite passing the rigorous exam. The cost of losing students accepted through national exam processes is more than just financial. These dropouts typically reflect a misalignment between student potential and institutional offerings.

Future choices are to be found in data lakes

For each student, counselors must consider various factors, including academic performance, extracurricular activities, personal interests, career aspirations, financial aid eligibility, and family background. A high school counselor has to analyze around 150 to 200 data points per student. These data points typically include:

• 40 to 50 academic data points (grades, GPA trends, test scores, course rigor)
• 20 to 30 extracurricular activities and leadership roles
• 10 to 15 data points related to career interests and primary preferences
• 20 to 30 financial aid and scholarship-related metrics
• 10 to 15 personal preference factors (location, campus size, extracurricular fit)
• 10 to 20 application requirements (deadlines, essays, recommendations)

Given the complexity of each student’s profile, and with counselors in the U.S. often handling caseloads of 250 to 500 students per year, processing this vast amount of data manually becomes highly challenging. According to the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC), the average U.S. public high school counselor is responsible for around 482 students, making it difficult to provide personalized, data-driven guidance.

AI technologies offer a transformative solution by streamlining the processing of this data. AI platforms can analyze patterns across academic performance, extracurricular involvement, and career interests, providing tailored recommendations that align students with their best-fit universities. For example, a student’s profile could include over 30 academic data points, 20 extracurricular activities, and various financial aid forms — all of which AI can quickly process to match students with the right opportunities.

For families, AI not only saves time but also reduces costs. Traditional college counseling services cost anywhere from $100 to $300 per hour, and AI can cut these fees by up to 50%, saving families between $500 and $2,250 per student. Additionally, errors like applying to unsuitable institutions or missing scholarship opportunities can cost families tens of thousands of dollars. For instance, students who transfer due to poor institutional fit often lose $10,000 to $15,000 per year in tuition and fees. Missing out on scholarships, ranging from $5,000 to full tuition coverage, adds significant financial strain.

For international students, these risks are even higher. With tuition fees for international students often two to three times higher than for domestic students, applying to the wrong institutions or missing key scholarship opportunities can result in a financial burden of $25,000 to $50,000 annually.

The Rise of AI in Everyday Life

AI has seamlessly integrated into our lives, powering everything from smartphones to autonomous driving features and enhancing customer experiences in retail. Its progress has been so gradual that significant milestones, like AlphaGo’s victory over a world champion Go player in 2016, often fade from public memory. Yet, the recent emergence of generative AI applications such as ChatGPT, GitHub Copilot, and Stable Diffusion has captivated global attention. These tools enable natural, conversational interactions with AI, allowing users to communicate, create, and interact with unprecedented ease.

Generative AI: A Game-Changer

Generative AI has sparked widespread interest due to its versatility. These advanced models can reorganize and classify data, write text, compose music, and create digital art. The rapid development in this field is both exciting and challenging. For instance, ChatGPT, launched in November 2022, saw the release of its enhanced version, GPT-4, just four months later. Similarly, Anthropic’s generative AI, Claude, drastically improved its text-processing capabilities within a few months. In May 2023, Google introduced new AI-powered features, including the Search Generative Experience and the PaLM 2 language model.

The Foundation of AI’s Capabilities

Understanding the future of AI requires recognizing the decades of advancements leading to today’s generative AI. This technology is built on foundation models — expansive artificial neural networks inspired by the human brain. These models are integral to deep learning, involving many deep layers within neural networks. Unlike earlier models, foundation models can process vast and varied unstructured data, performing multiple tasks across different modalities, including images, video, audio, and computer code.

Transforming University Recommendations

As we begin to grasp generative AI’s power and capabilities, its potential to transform university recommendations in high schools becomes increasingly apparent. This transformative technology offers a tailored approach to college recommendations, aligning students’ unique aspirations, skills, and potential with the best possible institutions and instilling a sense of hope and optimism in their educational journeys.

The advent of AI marks a significant shift in how students plan their educational journeys. By harnessing the power of AI, educators and career counselors can offer more accurate, individualized recommendations. This ensures that students are matched with universities where they are most likely to thrive, enhancing their educational experience and setting them up for success. Here are six ways AI is improving productivity and efficiency in this critical advisory role:

1. Personalized Matchmaking: AI algorithms can analyze many data points from student profiles, including academic records, extracurricular activities, personal interests, and career goals. By comparing this data against thousands of university programs, AI provides personalized recommendations that significantly increase the chances of student satisfaction and success. For example, a study showed that students who received AI-driven recommendations were 25% more likely to enroll in a university that perfectly matched their profile than those who relied on traditional counseling methods.
2. Enhanced Predictive Analytics: Leveraging machine learning, AI can predict student success rates at various universities based on historical data. This predictive power helps counselors provide more accurate advice, reducing the risk of student dropouts and increasing overall graduation rates. Statistics from a pilot program indicated a 30% improvement in predicting student outcomes, enabling more informed decision-making.
3. Efficient Resource Allocation: AI tools can streamline administrative tasks, allowing counselors to focus more on direct student engagement. Automated scheduling, data entry, and progress tracking reduce the time spent on routine activities by up to 40%, as demonstrated in several high schools that have integrated AI systems into their counseling departments.
4. Comprehensive Career Pathway Analysis: AI systems can integrate labor market data to forecast career demands. This analysis helps advise students on the best universities and the most promising fields of study. For instance, an AI tool used in a large school district provided a career trend analysis that was 35% more accurate than traditional labor market reports, ensuring students choose paths with solid prospects.
5. Inclusive Support for Diverse Student Needs: AI-driven platforms can offer personalized support to students from diverse backgrounds, including those with special educational needs or those requiring language assistance. This inclusivity ensures that all students, regardless of their background, receive equitable guidance tailored to their unique circumstances. Schools utilizing AI reported a 20% increase in the engagement and satisfaction of minority and special-needs students in their college application processes, making them feel valued and considered.
6. Continuous Improvement and Feedback: AI systems can continuously learn and improve from the data they process, providing counselors with updated insights and recommendations. This dynamic adaptability ensures that the advice given to students remains relevant and effective over time. A recent implementation of AI in school counseling showed a 15% increase in the accuracy of university recommendations year-over-year.

Integrating AI into high school counseling is not just a futuristic concept but a present-day reality reshaping how students plan their educational journeys. By enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of university recommendations, AI is helping to ensure that every student finds the path that best suits their talents and ambitions, leading to more fulfilling and successful academic careers.

References

1. OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT and GPT-4: Transforming Communication. Retrieved from OpenAI
2. Anthropic. (2023). Claude’s Capability Growth. Retrieved from Anthropic
3. Google AI. (2023). Introducing PaLM 2: The Next Generation of Language Models. Retrieved from Google AI
4. DeepMind. (2016). AlphaGo Victory. Retrieved from DeepMind
5. McKinsey & Company. (2023). The Future of Generative AI. Retrieved from McKinsey & Company
6. National Center for Education Statistics. (2022). Predictive Analytics in Education. Retrieved from NCES