Western Governor’s University (WGU) announced last week that it will use the Aera Decision Cloud to assist with student support. The platform will sort through academic activity data at the entirely online institution and use it to recommend courses of action to assist students in need. “With nearly 1.1 million online students in the U.S. and retention rates 20 percent lower for online and adult learners across the higher-ed landscape, there’s a clear opportunity to improve outcomes,” Joe Dery, vice president and dean of WGU’s School of Technology, wrote in an email to Government Technology. “We know that timely outreach can significantly enhance student persistence, and by evolving our approach, we can better deliver this support at scale within our flexible education model.”