You don’t need thick research journals to learn about the education industry's growth. Instead, your inbox will give you a detailed idea precisely your chatbot. From notifying students about deadlines to answering them with the common Wi-Fi password, these higher education chatbots do all the heavy lifting that your academic administrators and staff members had to do once upon a time.
Several universities and colleges have already implemented chatbots. To prove the worth of these higher education chatbots, a study says that 65% of students use or plan to use generative AI chatbots for academic purposes. So, what’s this craze about chatbots?
It is not just about saving time or slashing budgets. But these chatbots communicate with students individually at odd hours and respond to their queries instantly. So, these chatbots can uplift your university’s image and social presence without burning real humans.
This blog will reveal the top 10 universities implementing AI chatbots. These institutions are setting goals for those who haven’t adopted a chatbot by showing how chatbots have smartly transformed their student experience.
At a glance: 10 universities using chatbots
List of 10 universities with active chatbots
Indeed, chatbots have reduced human labor in the education sector. After implementing chatbots, several universities have reported saving time and human resources. They also mentioned how these AI chatbots build healthy relationships with students. Let’s dig into how these 10 universities use chatbots.
1. University of North Georgia
The University of North Georgia administrators understood first-year students' challenges while navigating university life. So, they have implemented an interactive chatbot named AskNigel. The university introduced this chatbot solely to guide students in finding information efficiently and accurately. With time, the chatbot has become a support system for the entire UNG community.
Key features:
- AskNigel was equipped with 7000 pre-loaded questions in its inception to address a wide range of student inquiries.
- The artificial intelligence of the chatbot improves and becomes more intelligent with more student interaction.
- AskNigel offers a live chat feature. Students can connect with human agents for more clarity on academic events.
2. Southern New Hampshire University
Southern New Hampshire University has introduced Penny, an interactive chatbot, to provide student support 24/7. Indeed, human resources failed to address the students’ queries. The result? Your students lose interest in your university. Penny takes up the responsibility. It sends timely reminders to students and enhances student engagement. Besides, the chatbot is integrated into the existing university CRM.
Key features:
- The chatbot sends students messages weekly to align them with their academic calendar.
- When Penny was introduced, the advisor call volume jumped 10%, indicating a focus on helping students with meaningful interactions.
- Penny flags student responses by enabling the advisors to pay attention to providing more personalized support.
3. San Jose State University
San Jose State University has embraced AI chatbots and developed KingBotGPT to enhance library services. The chatbot provides information on library resources. Students can easily access the chatbot outside regular hours. To help students with accurate responses, the chatbot uses RAG, a retrieval augmented generation model that merges local data with language generation facilities.
Key features:
- The chatbot offers after-hours student services about the university library.
- Since it is integrated with the university library website, the chatbot directs students to valuable guides, research papers, and tutorials.
- The chatbot is built on the RAG model, which helps it understand the students' language and respond accordingly.
4. Bates
Developed in collaboration with Goodkind, Bates College introduced the Bates Quad chatbot. The primary purpose of implementing Quad is to improve student engagement and experience across all social platforms of the website. Based on the database and the website content, the chatbot responds to students and automates university tasks.
Key features:
- The chatbot uses the college's official resources to send content-driven responses and keep the students informed.
- The chatbot proactively engages with students and does not wait for their messages. Instead, it sends them reminders.
- Since the chatbot heavily relies on the university's website content, it encourages regular updates to enhance its performance.
5. Georgia State University
Georgia State University is one of the early adopters to implement an AI-integrated chatbot in their university online portal. The university launched the chatbot in 2016 to combat the summer melt (a situation where students could not enrol). Implementing the chatbot reduced the summer melt by 22%. The chatbot could also respond to more than 200,000 students.
Key features:
- Pounce uses behavioral intelligence to understand student behavior and adapt its messaging accordingly.
- Pounce offers scalable support right from its inception, as it can send 1,85,000 messages to incoming students.
- Every week, Pounce sends 2-3 personalized messages to the students to remind them of upcoming university events, deadlines, and motivational tips.
6. Nanyang Technological University
The University of Singapore introduced an innovative chatbot, Lyon Admissions, to enhance student learning. The chatbot is crafted to function as a generative AI assistant for students. Further, it leverages RAG technology, or Retrieval Augmented Generation, to provide contextually accurate information. The chatbot is integrated with the university's existing educational framework.
Key features:
- The chatbot offers personalized learning support to enhance the students' understanding and improve retention.
- The chatbot has a relatable persona through which it approaches students in a friendly manner to foster a sense of comfort.
- Prof Leodar is accessible 24/7to provide continuous support and flexibility to the students.
7. Alverno College
As a liberal arts institution for women, Alverno College has earned its name for its ability-based education system. The college has implemented an AI chatbot in partnership with BlackBeltHelp to foster this. The chatbot caters to the students' various needs and is accessible around the clock, providing consistent support and responsiveness.
Key features:
- The easy integration of the chatbot with the existing LMS of the college allows it to support the students with a better learning experience.
- Keeping in mind the factor of simplicity, the chatbot has a user-friendly interface for better user engagement.
- The chatbot has the feature of constantly learning from its usage.
8. Mitropolitiko College, Greece
This renowned Greek college has welcomed digital transformation to develop a better relationship with its students. The institution has a hybrid teaching ecosystem, and the chatbot fits into it functionally. The chatbot actively participates in sending reminders and messages about online courses and programs. It informs students about the skills they need to stay technologically sound.
Key features:
- The chatbot offers information on comprehensive programs in machine learning and artificial intelligence.
- The chatbot guides the student on choosing the right course by collecting student data in a student form.
- It gives students 24/7 access to admission processes and related information.
9. University of Maryland
With the active use of chatbots, the University of Maryland streamlines support services and communications for prospective and international students. The chatbot plays a vital role in the university’s ISSS, or International Student Scholar Services. Here, the chatbot guides students in areas such as document submission, visa verification, and status updates. This reduces wait times and provides consistent responses.
Key features:
- The chatbot walks every student through the admission process, from answering questions to document verification and final payment.
- The chatbot escalates students to human advisors for more comprehensive assistance for complicated student queries.
- Since the chatbot provides status on visa updates, it eases the student onboarding process.
10. University of Wisconsin
To streamline communication and offer immediate support to students, the University of Wisconsin introduced an interactive chatbot, Phlash. The chatbot not only helps students but also offers support across various departments of the university. Since the chatbot is integrated into the university's online portals, students can access it on multiple platforms.
Key features:
- With Phlash, students get immediate responses 24/7. This includes the weekends and holidays as well.
- Students get real-time information on scholarships and financial grants for their academic purposes with the help of Phlash.
- The chatbot provides detailed and updated campus life information.
Benefits of using chatbots in universities
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Being the unsung heroes of modern universities, the higher education chatbots are no longer restricted to answering questions. They have shifted focus to managing staff work, automating workflow, delivering immediate support, and more.
Let’s take a look at the core benefits of implementing chatbots in higher educational institutions:
- 24/7 student support: Students are ready to ask questions - on the weekends, at odd hours, before exam preparation, or before submitting a project. These chatbots are always prepared to answer them, even when it’s beyond office hours. This reduces the stress and anxiety of the students.
- Reduced workload: The administrative team's human resources often spend long hours responding to student queries, which affects their efficiency in other crucial aspects. However, when chatbots handle these FAQs, human agents can focus on improving campus operations.
- Improved service delivery: The chatbots' consistency and speed have reduced students' waiting times. Besides, these chatbots can collect student data for future analysis.
- Better onboarding: Students can feel pressure from information overload, especially during admission hours. Chatbots simplify this. They provide complete guidance to the students from registration to campus navigation and payment procedures.
Challenges in chatbot adoption
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Higher education chatbots sound great. However, the real problem occurs when universities implement them. They often face roadblocks associated with how the chatbot can fit into an existing system and how it can meet the expectations. Here are some of the key challenges you might have to face while implementing chatbots in your educational institutions:
- Technical integrations: Implementing a chatbot into a university’s system is not just about plug-and-play. The bot can require several seamless integrations - from learning management systems to student portals. This requires IT support, customized APIs, and coordination. Many institutions may not be ready with such backend support.
- Language and cultural limitations: A university embraces students from various cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Chatbots are generally equipped with generic datasets and standard language. Often, they miss out on colloquial idioms and phrases, making them appear robotic and offering a frustrating experience.
- Security concerns: Higher education chatbots often deal with sensitive student data. When these chatbots fail to protect the data, it questions about their privacy. However, when universities comply with strict data protection laws, it brings another technical complexity to the chatbot.
Conclusion
Although universities don’t need to run after every new technology, chatbots can bring a new dimension to their academic system. From offering innovative campus operations to guiding students with educational and logistical support, these chatbots free human teams while developing a healthy student relationship. Indeed, no technical system is perfect.
So, you must keep upgrading your chatbot and monitoring its performance metrics. With the shift in student expectations, these chatbots are no longer the future they are already here, and you must implement one soon.
