The Client at-a Glance
Based in Baltimore, MD, Education Affiliates is a network of more than 40 post-secondary schools preparing students for a diverse array of career options, including medical assistants, pharmacy assistants, practical and registered nurses, EMTs, cosmetologists, HVAC technicians, welders and commercial drivers, among many others. EA is dedicated to not only educating students, but also to creating opportunities for organizations to hire graduates of its schools who have completed quality, people-oriented, post-secondary career training.
The Wonderlic SLE Helps Education Affiliates Point Students Toward Their Potential
In this economy in which many people have lost their jobs and many more fear being laid off, career-training colleges, like those in the Education Affiliates network of some 40 schools nationwide, have seen a flood of applicants. That’s because the high rate of employment among graduates of these career schools almost guarantees that a job will be waiting when a student successfully finishes his or her studies. "This flood of applicants is one reason we need a selective admissions process," says Maryse Levy, Education Affiliates Vice President of Education and Career Services.
A big part of that selectivity is determining, without a doubt, the right path for students entering the college. That’s because unlike traditional four-year colleges, for-profit, career colleges like those in the Education Affiliates network need to prove their success in matching students to the right fields and training them well in those fields in order to qualify for financial aid funding. The proof? Percentages of graduates who are employed in the fields for which they were trained by the college. The minimum to qualify for funding? At least 70 percent of graduates must be employed in their fields. For Levy, 70 percent is nowhere near good enough. "We strive for much more than that," says Levy. "We’re trying for 86 percent of our graduates employed in their fields, and right now we’re hitting about 84 or 85 percent."
In this economy, that figure is an astounding roar of success. But it means it’s critical to hone in on the admissions process in order to match students’ abilities and skills with the fields they’re desiring to enter. That’s why Education Affiliates uses the Wonderlic Scholastic Level Exam, or SLE, as part of the admissions process for the nearly 60,000 students applying EA schools each year. EA will accept about half of these students into one of the 250 programs it offers.
The SLE is the educational version of the well-known Wonderlic Personnel Test - Revised that has been used in employee selection since 1937. This connection provides the ability to directly compare student scores to those of applicants for jobs, providing a reliable estimate of the likelihood of employment and successful performance within that particular career.
The SLE helps EA evaluate which students are right for which programs, explains Levy. "If a student is interested in the paramedic program, for example, but doesn’t score high enough on the SLE, we can counsel that student to choose something like the medical assistant program first in order to build up his or her skills. For many students, it’s a matter of steps."
The online component of the SLE provides testing convenience for students and staff, but that isn’t the reason it’s so critical for EA. "The online version is scored automatically so there are no grading errors. That’s critical for us. When you’ve got 40 schools in different states, you’re going to have human error in the grading of these admissions tests if you don’t do it online. And we can’t have any error, because a student’s score is going to help us determine their fit for their particular area of study. And that fit directly relates to their ability to finish their coursework successfully and get a job in their field, which ultimately defines our success as a college. So I like to say that 99.9 percent accuracy in grading isn’t good enough for us. We need 100 percent accuracy."
Maryse Levy, Education Affiliates Vice President of Education and Career Services
If a student’s test is graded improperly, it might result in that student being admitted to a program he or she isn’t qualified to pursue, which in turn might lead that student to drop out or otherwise falter. Conversely, it also might result in a student not being allowed to pursue an area of study he or she is actually qualified for — which could also lead that student to drop out. Either way, the accuracy of the score is paramount to EA. Another thing about the scores — Levy has found a direct correlation between a student’s SLE score and his or her grade point average. "The higher the SLE score, the higher the GPA," she says. "That’s true across many of the programs we offer."
The SLE isn’t the only Wonderlic tool used by EA. "We use the Wonderlic surveys with our employees, students, graduates and the employers of graduates," says Levy. "We use them to improve the educational programs we provide." The surveys allow EA to "take the pulse" of their employees, students, graduates and employers of graduates to determine how well their offerings are working both in school and in the real world. For example, a recent survey of employers showed that EA students in that particular field were very strong technically but needed soft skills, like the ability to communicate well in the workplace. "Based on what we heard through the surveys, we added a couple of courses to address that issue," Levy explains.
It’s just one more way for Educational Affiliates to continually strive for the excellence that has been the hallmark of its organization since its inception. And Wonderlic is glad to help.
The Wonderlic Solution
- The Scholastic Level Exam, or SLE, is the educational testing version of the well-known Wonderlic Personnel Test - Revised that has been used in employee selection since 1937. This connection provides the ability to directly compare student scores to those of applicants for jobs, providing a reliable estimate of the likelihood of employment and successful performance within that particular career. The SLE helps schools evaluate training potential, place students in programs for jobs that suit their learning speed and aptitude.
- The Wonderlic Employee Opinion Survey, Student Survey, Graduate Survey and Graduate Employer Satisfaction Survey help schools take the pulse of employees, students, graduates and their employers. These tools allow schools to assess opinions about all aspects of their offerings. Wonderlic designs the survey, handles administration, monitors its progress, analyzes survey data.
