Six Sigma in Education

Six Sigma has made a lasting impression on the manufacturing, service and healthcare industries. Now it is making improvements in an unexpected place – the classroom.

At first, Six Sigma might seem mismatched with education. The field lacks the standard Six Sigma methodology targets such as production equipment, tangible inputs and outputs and inventory. Instead, the education sector is known for disorderly and unpredictable human factors. The soft side of education includes individual learning and performance and student satisfaction. These don’t always respond well to the statistically based and tightly controlled methodology of Six Sigma.

Why Does Education Need Six Sigma?

At first, education and Six Sigma may seem incompatible, but some areas of education can respond well to the methodology. Many of the activities that go into providing an education are repeatable processes that can benefit from applying Six Sigma principles. Like Six Sigma, education is tightly focused on obtaining the voice of the customer (students) and improving the process to meet customer needs.

This alignment of Six Sigma and education combines with the demand for greater efficiency, which is another trend that is reshaping every corner of the academic world. This trend is caused by a number of factors.

• Increased tuition in higher education has made students and their parents expect more from the coursework colleges provide.
• Government pressure on elementary and secondary schools to improve student performance has increased.
• Intense global competition makes it critical for students to excel academically.

What’s in an Education?

Not all parts of the education field are the same. Some may be better suited to the principles of Six Sigma than others. Education can be broken down into three key areas:

1. Administration – The education system is held together by processes that must run smoothly and interact efficiently. Six Sigma principles can reduce the variance in these vital processes: admissions, information technology, certification, grant administration, repair and maintenance and purchase order administration.
2. Enrollment – Before education can take place, students have to be registered and placed in a classroom. Six Sigma is suited to tackle one of the greatest inconveniences in the educational process – the time to complete higher education enrollment. Streamlining the enrollment process can lead to greater student satisfaction from the start.
3. Academics – Six Sigma can play an active part in increasing the dedication in a student’s mind. From creating a process, to choosing the right faculty members, to using benchmarking to identify and implement the best practices of other institutions, Six Sigma methodology can transform the quality of learning in the classroom.

Contrary to what many people believe, Six Sigma can help improve the processes that make up the field of education. As parents, students, federal and state government and global economic conditions continue to place more pressure on improving education, educational institutions may rely much more heavily on Six Sigma methodology.