CHALLENGES

What we typically see

Data trapped in silos

Student, donor, and faculty data lives across SIS, CRM, LMS, financial aid, and hundreds of other applications. A complete picture of any journey requires manual reconciliation that slows every team that depends on it.

Decisions made on stale data

Enrollment, retention, and advancement strategies run on historical averages instead of real-time propensity signals. By the time the pattern is visible, the window to act has closed.

Donor engagement that does not scale

Advancement and foundation teams manage thousands of prospects without the data infrastructure to personalize outreach, prioritize high-propensity donors, or measure what is driving giving.

Reports that do not agree

Different definitions across the provost's office, enrollment, finance, athletics, facilities, and faculty affairs slow decision-making and erode confidence in the data across the institution.

Capabilities

How we help

We unify student, donor, and faculty data across the hundreds of applications institutions run on, govern it as a productized asset, and engineer the AI that drives data-driven decisions across every stage of the lifecycle.

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Data & AI Strategy

Identify the highest-value use cases for your institution and produce a prioritized roadmap tied to enrollment, retention, advancement, and institutional goals

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Governance Blueprint

Design the data ownership, access control, and FERPA compliance framework the institution needs to operate AI defensibly across constituent data

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Data Foundations

Unify student, donor, and operational data into a centralized, reliable platform built on Snowflake

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Analytics

Deliver real-time visibility into enrollment forecasting, student retention, student success, advancement performance, and the cross-functional metrics leadership relies on

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Artificial Intelligence

Deploy predictive models, conversational interfaces, document intelligence, and agentic workflows that move students and donors through the lifecycle

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Governance Programs

Automate lineage tracking, data definitions, stewardship, and policy enforcement so the data behind every institutional decision stays trustworthy

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Operating Partnership

Embed a dedicated team for continuous delivery and innovation across the institution's evolving data and AI priorities

Proof & Perspective

From the field

Innovative thinking. Real outcomes.

Higher Education

Unlocking student lifecycle insights with governed data infrastructure

Unlocking student lifecycle insights with governed data infrastructure

Higher Education

Predicting student outcomes with unstructured data and personas

Predicting student outcomes with unstructured data and personas

FAQs

Questions we hear

How do you handle FERPA compliance in your engagements?

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FERPA compliance is engineered into every higher education engagement. Our Governance Blueprint translates FERPA requirements into platform-level controls (role-based access, lineage, and policy enforcement) integrated with your data architecture from day one rather than retrofitted under audit pressure.

What kinds of institutions do you work with?

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Our work spans state university systems, ivy league and Big 10 research universities, mid-size private institutions, graduate and business schools, and academic medical centers. Engagements scale to the size and complexity of the institution; the deliverables are scoped to fit. For institutions with a clinical or research component, we bring deep healthcare and life sciences experience to AMC-specific work, including LCME accreditation and clinical research data.

What does a typical first engagement look like?

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Most start with a Data & AI Strategy: a focused discovery to identify and prioritize the highest-value use cases (enrollment forecasting, student retention, donor propensity, governance modernization, or others), followed by a phased roadmap. From there we move into delivery based on what the strategy surfaces as the most critical priority.

Can you work within our existing technology stack?

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Yes. We design around your environment (Banner, Workday, PeopleSoft, Salesforce, Raiser's Edge, ServiceNow, Canvas, Blackboard, Wealth Engine, the National Student Clearinghouse, and the hundreds of other applications that institutions actually run) and engineer on what you already have. The value comes from looking at these sources together rather than discretely. That’s where the insights live. For institutions in the Snowflake ecosystem, we bring deep platform expertise that accelerates delivery and reduces integration complexity.

What makes OneSix different from other firms working in higher education?

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Deep technical capability paired with genuine higher education domain expertise. We have delivered modern data platforms, donor science, and student lifecycle analytics across state systems, ivy league universities, Big 10 institutions, private universities, and graduate and business schools, using accelerators and frameworks engineered for the way universities actually operate.