It’s difficult to retain students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields. Of the students who declared STEM majors at some point from 2003 to 2009, nearly half had switched out of the sciences by 2009. But the newly formed University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley hopes to keep more students in those and related fields — and on track to graduate on time — by mixing big-data and personalized approaches. This fall the university will start a competency-based biomedical-sciences program through a new system called TEx, or "Total Education Experience." The system closely monitors students’ progress in their courses, taking into account outside demands that might hinder their ability to complete coursework.

June 19, 2015 ・ From Chronicle of Higher Education