In a year when higher education faces more than its share of challenges, it is encouraging to observe that colleges and universities have found renewed energy to tackle big problems. Each year, Eduventures showcases schools that embrace innovation. At last week’s 2025 Eduventures Summit, we highlighted pioneering advancements in AI education, dual enrollment, and online student success—among other initiatives.
For their innovative contributions, we congratulate Florida Atlantic University, McMurry University, Oregon State Ecampus, and Suffolk University!
We also recognize the achievements of Bowling Green State University, Old Dominion University, and National University of Singapore!
Here are their stories.
Florida Atlantic University: Ensuring Online Student Success
Background
Despite growth in online learning, institutions often fall short in helping virtual students feel connected and supported. Challenges include limited community, complex systems, and lack of access to co-curricular opportunities—issues especially impacting first-generation, transfer, and working adult students. Florida Atlantic University’s Online Enrollment and Student Success (OESS) Team was created to directly address these barriers and redefine what student belonging looks like in an online environment.
The Initiative
The university implemented a high-touch, student-centered support model. Key roles like an admissions concierge, success coach, and outreach specialist work together to guide students through every stage, from recruitment to graduation. Initiatives such as the Owl Passport to Online Success program and a specialized first-year course provide structure and early support.
Collaboration is at the heart of this initiative, breaking down silos between departments like Undergraduate Admissions and the Graduate College. The program also engages students directly through swag boxes, online forums, and an advisory board, helping to build a sense of community in a virtual setting.
The Outcome
The outcomes have been remarkable. Retention rates among fully online first-time students climbed 12 points in just one year, reaching 84% in Fall 2023. Undergraduate online applications, admissions, and registrations also surged—by 56%, 43%, and 15%, respectively. Students have expressed feeling seen and supported, with strong engagement in the program’s activities. This initiative doesn’t just improve outcomes—it redefines what online education can be by creating an inclusive, personalized environment that prioritizes belonging and success.
McMurry University: Reimagining Dual Enrollment
Background
Dual credit enrollments have grown substantially over the years in Texas, but less so online. Most dual enrollment programs are transactional and driven by institutional proximity to local high schools, with the market dominated by public colleges and universities. McMurray, a private institution, set out to change the status quo.
The Initiative
Housed with the enrollment management division, The Dual Credit Academy (DCA) was born. The DCA provides partner high schools with access to associate degrees, full-service support, academic support for students, and thoughtfully designed online courses. The program has become a central piece of the institution's strategic plan, requiring collaboration between the enrollment, registrar, academic, and IT units.
Key to its success has been IT infrastructure and enrollment workflows to handle and support thousands of new students each semester. The academic units worked closely with enrollment to coordinate online offerings, resource planning, and adjunct support.
The Outcome
The DCA grew from 19 students to over 2,000 students and 135+ high school partners statewide in the span of three years. It contributed to six consecutive semesters of enrollment growth and two consecutive years of record enrollment at the institution. The program has proved to be an invaluable pipeline for incoming full-time students at McMurry. At scale, McMurry is able to combine low prices with high levels of customer service for students and high schools.
Oregon State Ecampus: Defining New Metrics for Adult Students
Background
Traditional measures of success, tailored to first-time, full-time students often prove inadequate for online learners. The online student population is vastly different from campus-based students, and limited research exists on relevant metrics for online student success.
The Initiative
Oregon State University Ecampus (OSU Ecampus) embarked on a mission to redefine and rigorously track online student success metrics. The objective was to earn certification from Quality Matters for Learner Success by defining online student success in a way that honored this distinctive demographic while ensuring consistent evaluation over time. Collaborating with divisional data analysts, the Ecampus Student Success Team crafted a holistic definition of online student success, supported by actionable data.
This resulted in a new set of metrics, which included revamped student retention and persistence rates. Academic mastery was highlighted through measures like DF rates and academic excellence recognized via Honor Roll status. A sense of belonging and feeling valued within the OSU community was deemed critical for student support, alongside degree completion.
To make this initiative actionable, the team incorporated knowledgeable data analysts, relevant student data, direct feedback from students, peer benchmarks, and institutional policies.
The Outcome
The outcome is a comprehensive annotation of success metrics designed to highlight a vision for student success that is more attuned to the specific needs and pain points of the adult learner. These metrics also enable the school to measure and benchmark its core goals, including newly defined retention and persistence rates, course mastery, academic excellence, a sense of belonging, and degree completion, among others. This data is refreshed annually at the culmination of the academic year in June and has been shared broadly with campus partners, e.g., colleges/deans and centralized units/partners.
Suffolk University: AI-Forward Business Curriculum
The Problem
Business schools must prepare students for a rapidly evolving professional world transformed by artificial intelligence (AI). Just teaching students how to use AI tools fails to develop the critical human competencies needed to lead in an AI-augmented world. Students must learn to strategically use AI while honing vital human qualities, such as judgment, critical thinking, and ethical reasoning.
The Initiative
Suffolk University’s comprehensive response is the AI-Human Educational Synergy (AHES) Framework. The AHES Framework encompasses four key competency areas, including: AI Literacy (i.e., "How does it work?"), Cognitive Elevation (i.e., "What's missing?"), Social Intelligence (i.e., "How do we connect?"), and Ethical Leadership (i.e., "Should we do this?").
With this framework in mind, Suffolk launched a series of innovative experiments in the 2024–25 academic year:
- Freshman AI Foundation: A course for 450 freshmen introducing AI’s business applications and ethical use, empowering students to harness these technologies responsibly to solve real-world business challenges.
- Faculty Hackathon: Faculty formed teams matched with AI tools to prototype teaching innovations addressing learning challenges.
- Student Competition: The "Prompt Alchemy" competition challenged students to build prompts to extract insights from a real-world e-commerce dataset.
- Case Teaching Notes: Faculty employed generative AI to streamline the creation of customized teaching materials.
- Marketing Meets AI: Students designed campaigns and analyzed markets using AI tools, bridging theoretical learning with practical applications.
- AI Minor: A new minor with three courses focusing on machine learning, natural language processing (NLP), and robotics, equipping students for AI-driven business roles.
The Outcome
This transformative curriculum yielded several impactful outcomes:
- Student Learning: 85% of participants reported increased confidence in using AI tools with 90% showcasing improved prompt quality.
- Faculty Development: The initiative strengthened faculty capacity to teach effectively in an AI-augmented environment.
- Curriculum Innovation: The AHES Framework now informs curriculum development across multiple courses and programs.
- Institutional Differentiation: Suffolk’s reputation as a leader in innovative business education has been bolstered.
Recognition of Achievement
We also recognize the achievements of three universities for their commitment to new methods for improving student success:
Bowling Green State University
The Initiative: The transformative Life Design initiative that empowers students to take charge of their academic, personal, and career journeys by fostering curiosity, resilience, and collaboration.
National University of Singapore
The Initiative: New digital Curriculum Management System that streamlines proposal and approval workflows and enhances the student experience by reducing uncertainty and improving course registration and learning outcomes.
Old Dominion University
The Initiative: The New to Blue Student Experience enhances the onboarding process for students and their families through innovative modules that foster belonging, community connections, and accountability, ensuring greater success from enrollment to graduation.
Congratulations to all 2025 award winners!
