Response for AB3101
- Patricia Donohue
I understand CCCApply is available in English and Spanish. Is that correct? How many additional languages are we planning and when will those be available?
I understand we are undergoing a process to determine which questions should be asked at which point of the application and enrollment process. Where are we in that process? What are our next steps?Spanish language help is available for each field as students enter data into the application.
We are exploring the opportunity to use browser based translation services for other languages in the latter part of 2018. If successful, this effort could allow more than 30 languages, however we may have to facilitate some translations for accuracy.
Have we done an analysis of which questions are required by state or federal law and which we have flexibility to change or delete?Working with CCCCO Staff, WestED Staff, and the CCCApply team, it has been determined that all questions currently in CCCApply are required given current MIS, Title 5, State, and Federal Statutes.
This determination was discussed in November 2017 with the resolution that possible changes via legislation may be required to reduce the number of questions.
Another approach under consideration would be to only ask residency questions during the application process, and then have the college follow up with the student for the additional required information at a later point in time.
Both of the above potential solutions are under consideration by CCCCO staff.
CCCApply collects the data required for compliance with state residency determination, state & federal regulations, and local MIS (Management Information Systems) reporting requirements.
- 61% of questions are used to determine California residency or eligibility for California resident tuition rates.
- 21% comply with other state and federal laws and collect data for state and federal reporting (IPEDS - The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System)
- 17% facilitate the operation of the application (e.g., establishing a password, providing consent for an electronic signature, etc.)
- <1% Other
(Source: Analysis of Required Questions in CCCApply)
Have we conducted student usability research or evaluation on CCCApply?
Student Survey Results
Every applicant to a Community College is surveyed at the end of CCCApply for a rating of general satisfaction with their experience and are given the opportunity to provide comments.
In January 2018 - 10,663 surveys were extracted for analysis. The results were comparable to the previous study from May 2017.
Student
January 2018
May 2017
Satisfaction
Percent
Count
Percent
Count
Very Satisfied
49.10%
5236
48.50%
1699
Satisfied
34.03%
3629
38.85%
1361
Neutral
15.25%
1626
11.70%
410
Dissatisfied
0.68%
72
0.34%
12
Very Dissatisfied
0.94%
100
0.60%
21
10663
3503
From the 10,663 surveys extracted in January 2018, 871 applicants provided comments. To provide a general view of sentiment, those comments were run through a word frequency analysis providing a representation of the top 100 words used in the form of a word cloud.
Results of the January 2018 word frequency analysis were comparable to previous studies going back to the release of the application in 2012 where the most frequently used word in applicant survey comments was “easy”.
Student Usability
When the application was launched student testing was part of the development process.
Most students submit with 15-20 minutes with over 80% submitting in 30 minutes. Overall the remainder start and return to the application to submit within 24 hrs.In 2017, contracted data science teams looked into the time it takes to submit an application and attrition.
It was found that just over 5% of users leave the application before completing it. The page users leave at more than others is the Personal Information page which asks for Gender, Sexual Orientation, Race & Ethnicity, etc. To address this, we have a change request in to rename the "Personal Information" page to "Demographic Information" and move it to the end of the application process. In this way students will have been fully invested in having filled out the application before they might be inclined to abandon.
Planned Usability Testing
A review of CCCApply usability is planned for 2018 as part of a study from the Foundation for California Community Colleges funded by College Futures Foundation.
