Maryville University answers 97% of student questions with AI.

Founded in 1872, Maryville University is one of the oldest private universities in the Midwest and one of the top three fastest-growing private, nonprofit universities in the country. Boasting a student population from all 50 states and over 58 countries, Maryville strives to be an innovative leader in higher education, expanding access and opportunities for all.

Problem

Maryville University has grown quickly over the past couple of years. Overwhelmed university staff were forced to juggle constant student questions and their own tasks. Maryville found that in addition to project delays, students whose questions went unanswered were less prepared for school and less productive.

As part of their effort to lead a digital revolution in higher education, Maryville decided to introduce “digital employees” to keep up with growing student demand and team workloads. Their first choice? Capacity, a.k.a. Max.

Solution

Capacity, or Max, is a Maryville student’s digital advisor. Powered by advanced, conversational AI, Max can answer over 90% of common student questions without any staff involvement.

Rather than email their advisor and wait hours or even days for a reply, Maryville students can now simply ask Max—and receive an answer in less than 2 seconds.

Capacity is also tasked with identifying students who are at risk of dropping their classes. Its advanced machine learning model can analyze and identify which students need more support based on specific parameters, such as part- or full-time status and financial aid usage. Capacity then jumps into action to help those students make better decisions. 

“Partnering with Capacity was not only the right decision for us, it was one of the best decisions that’s been made by this university.”

Mark Lombardi, PhD., President of Maryville University

For example, Maryville found that students who don’t begin class orientation within 5 days have a higher rate of dropping courses than those who do. 

As a result, once Capacity flags that a student has not completed orientation, it will automatically send email and text reminders to re-engage and encourage the student. Capacity will also automatically send notifications to that student’s advisor, so they can offer support as well.

Results

In just its first week, Max answered 40 student questions in under 3 seconds each. Capacity’s advanced analytics allowed Maryville to analyze which questions were asked most—and easily add new question-and-answer pairs to the Capacity knowledge base. The more knowledge is added, the more questions Max can answer.

Since then, student interaction with Capacity has skyrocketed. Each month:

• Over 300 students interact with Max/Capacity
• The Max bot receives over 6000 inquiries
• Capacity’s AI answers over 97% of those inquiries within seconds

With easier access to answers and preemptive support to help them stay engaged, Maryville students are more successful than ever. Together, Capacity and Maryville University are revolutionizing student support.

“Capacity’s customer support is unparalleled. I get help within the hour of any message.”

Sara Bronson, Digital Experience Developer