Data mining for financial aid optimization | |
| Author | Le Van Thanh |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.ICT-07-02 |
| Subject(s) | Data minining--Thailand Bayesian statistical decision theory Student aid--Statistical methods |
| Note | A thesis submitted in paiiial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering in Information & Communications Technologies, School of Engineering and Technology |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Series Statement | Thesis ; no. ICT-07-02 |
| Abstract | This thesis presents an approach to deriving probabilistic models that predict enrollment given applicant background and the amount of financial aid offered. Our Bayesian network models can be used to optimize various enrollment objectives. We present a novel efficient optimization algorithm that uses the models to maximize expected tuition revenue under capacity constraints including student-faculty ratio and accommodation. We demonstrate and evaluate our approach using four years of graduate admissions data from the Asian Institute of Technology, consisting of 7788 applicants from 84 different countries. This data set is particularly challenging since reliable family income data is not available for students from most of these countries. Each applicant is described by nine attributes, some of which are in the original data and some of which were derived by supplementing the data from other sources, e.g. the World Bank's GNI figures. Comparing the results of the tuition revenue optimization model to the institute's current financial aid allocation practice shows that if single-term tuition revenue is the sole optimization criterion, the institute can achieve its current enrollment numbers while realizing significant savings in its financial aid budget |
| Year | 2007 |
| Corresponding Series Added Entry | Asian Institute of Technology. Thesis ; no. ICT-07-02 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Engineering and Technology (SET) |
| Department | Department of Information and Communications Technologies (DICT) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Information and Communication Technology (ICT) |
| Chairperson(s) | Haddawy, Peter; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Janecek, Paul;Dailey, Matthew; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Posts and Telecom, Vietnam; |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2007 |