Academic Search Engine Knobull Launches A Program That Improves Graduation Rates

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Dec. 5, 2021 - PRLog -- Lynn Bentley, President of Knobull announced, "Knobull began addressing poor graduation rates by understanding the needs of the beneficiary of our services—in this case, the needs of the students."

Key factors affecting timely graduation include:
1. Staying on track to graduate—which means selecting a suitable major, understanding what requirements they must fulfill to graduate, and using strategies and support to improve their academic performance.
2. Building their employability—through exploring internships, writing a resume, defining a desired career path and supplying multiple career development guides.
3. Maintaining sufficient financial aid—by renewing their scholarships, staying current on scholarship payments, and making smart financial decisions.
4. Managing life—by staying connected with people who cared, maintaining a positive attitude, managing finances and resolving problems that might challenge their ability to graduate.

To address deficiencies in these areas, the Knobull team chose a simple mnemonic for the four dimensions of graduation success, called DEAL, where each letter stands for the following:

• Degree (academic performance, on track to graduate)
• Employability
• (access to financial) Aid
• Life (emotional support)

We are working to create indicators for each of these four dimensions of graduation success. Students seeking support complete the DEAL assessment and are ranked on these indicators, using a scale where A means "on track to graduate," B means "facing some difficulty," and C means "at significant risk of not graduating."

DEAL also helps the Knobull team identify areas where extra support is needed beyond what this basic program can provide. One such area was in helping students prepare for careers after college. As a result, the team provides career coaching guides. DEAL highlights that employability upon graduation mattered, which led to the design of programs to accomplish that.

Bentley concluded, "With the implementation of DEAL, research shows that graduation rates of students can rise to 85 percent. Process Thinking, when executed well, enables students to focus their daily activities where results will be the greatest, accelerate fulfillment of their goals, and ultimately increase their value to society."