If you enroll students in courses or programs through a school or educational program, chances are you keep track of them with a spreadsheet like Excel. Your spreadsheet probably contains information about your students, such as their names, contact info and courses they’re enrolled in. 

Take things a step further, and you may even make this information available on the front-end of your website so that it’s easily accessible to students, parents and faculty members. To protect personal information, you can secure this area with a password. 

Let’s go over the fastest and most effective ways to create and organize a student database. 

Use a Student Database Template 

The quickest and easiest way to set up a student database is by using Microsoft Access. Access is user-friendly and has a similar structure to other Microsoft products. If you already have an Excel sheet containing your students’ information and courses, you can convert your sheets to Access. This way, you won’t lose any information or waste precious time. 

Your best option is to choose a student database template. This way, the database is already set up for you and you can start updating it with your students’ info. These templates are best for small schools and organizations because they are simple and straightforward. If you need a more complex student database, contact a professional database expert like Arkware. 

Capture the Right Data 

If you’re already using a spreadsheet to capture student details, you can simply move this data over to Access. However, if your database is new, you’ll need to determine what data you want to capture from students. When you ask for the right information in advance, you save time and headache from trying to track down this info in the future.

Here are some examples of the student details you might want to gather: 

• First and last name 
• Student ID number
• Date of birth 
• Email
• Phone number 
• Address 
• Courses enrolled in 
• Graduation date 

Organize Student Information 

When it comes to organizing your students’ information, Access offers different ways to do this. For instance, you can identify students by their name, major or student ID number. Within the courses they’re taking, you can add the instructor name, department, class times and grade. 

Having this information on hand makes it easy to manage your student base and analyze data, such as which classes are most popular. And, as new students, courses, instructors, etc. are added to your school, you can easily add them to your database to ensure consistent, accurate information. 

Looking to create a student database to manage student and course information? Contact Arkware to discuss your project.