‘Making the Data Make Sense’: An Interview with Lehigh University’s Dr. Cheryl Matherly

In a moment when international higher education weathers some panic-stricken forecasts, some sector leaders, far from being discouraged, see a pivotal opportunity: a return to education’s foundational ideals, preparing the next generation of creative changemakers and unabashed problem solvers. Among these visionaries is Dr. Cheryl Matherly, Vice President and Vice Provost for International Affairs at Lehigh University, Pennsylvania. Her focus is clear—future students must be able to trust not only the information presented to them, but also the experiential encounters that shape their university decisions.

Dr. Matherly underscores that gathering and providing reliable data, whether about costs, career outcomes, or ROI, is truly indispensable. Yet, for her, these are not simply checkboxes—they entail deliberate, strategic choices. As she explained in a recent interview from TrustED's blog, “In terms of awareness of the need for transparency and the need to take it seriously, I think everybody gets that. That students and families need the right information because of the importance of the decision [to study abroad]—I don’t think that’s lost on institutions.”

Strategic Approaches for Increased Transparency

Institutions like Lehigh are embracing sophisticated, connected methods:

• Targeted data collection and analysis tailored to specific populations

• Market-sensitive, nuanced dissemination of that information

Matherly attributes this shift to mounting external pressure on U.S. institutions to demonstrate ROI: “We’re thinking about this data, both in terms of how to do it and how to report the outcomes of it.”

Crucial, she insists, is an institution’s foresight in preparing for data releases—transparency is merely the beginning. “You have to start by building a culture that thinks about data and how to use it, and then figure out how to get meaningful information about the outcomes and impact of that data.”

Recognizing Subtleties in Student Populations

To nurture such a culture, Matherly advocates for deep research into student markets—appreciating different needs, financial realities, and individual preferences. She cautions against viewing any group as monolithic: “We should be asking questions [about these markets] that will help us make sense of our data in ways that can actually make it useful.”

The challenge does not lie in the mere accumulation of data, which abound. Rather, it is about shaping that data into formats genuinely accessible and understandable for students and families.

Tailoring Data for Global Relevance

As of 2023, Lehigh’s international students hail from over 80 countries, representing 7% of a student body just over 7,000. “We’re looking at the needs of the Indian markets, and we are also looking at the needs of our prospective Chinese students... Latin American students and our African students... we are recognizing and marking the similarities and differences between these larger groups, and... formatting or arranging the data in a way that makes it easy for each group to access.” Some persistent challenges include employment outcomes, ROI, and rankings.

Regarding outcome data, Dr. Matherly points out, “As an institution, we're very focused on student outcomes—it’s one of the measures in our university strategic plan. But the challenge… is to provide that information in a transparent way that is useful.” The solution, she suggests, is not simply to report broad statistics, but to dissect the data—analyzing variations in economic status, background, and post-graduation trajectories to present nuanced, population-specific insights.

Her team actively organizes and shares data relevant to diverse international subgroups and domestic peers alike. They are also leveraging AI and machine learning to refine the university and program selection process: “At minimum, it's to differentiate between international versus domestic students and to mark those differences.” For institutions, she stresses, prioritizing these efforts is a demanding—but essential—decision.

Rethinking Rankings and Decision-Making

Ranking systems introduce another layer of complexity. “We all pay attention to our rankings, but we also know the limitations,” Matherly reflects. Rankings can be oversimplified shorthand and are frequently disconnected from the true priorities of international students.

“Prospective students need a broader scope of information—so that they get the full picture that can help them make the right choice, as opposed to a ranking, which just becomes kind of a default proxy.”

Matherly highlights that established ranking methodologies rarely address the realities faced by international applicants. There are aspects—faculty backgrounds, advisor relationships, research facility access—that profoundly affect students’ experiences, yet resist easy quantification or ranking.

The Power of Experience

Lehigh, Matherly notes, invests in immersive, country-specific engagement. A recent undergraduate recruitment event in Mumbai, for example, brought together local counselors, students, and Lehigh faculty for an extended entrepreneurship workshop. This hands-on event allowed prospective students to personally experience Lehigh’s distinctive academic culture and values.

Feedback was overwhelming: “The things that we heard over and over again from the college counselors was that part of the reason it was so impactful is that most of the information students get... [comes from] a recruiter... giving a PowerPoint as an introduction... they all sound the same. Students participating in the Lehigh engagement really felt like they understood the difference when we talked about a Lehigh-type of education, and they understood it because they had experienced it. And experience is the hardest information to get.”

Contextualizing Data for Students’ Real Needs

On-the-ground global engagements are powerful, yet not practical for all. Matherly notes, “It’s obviously not realistic for every institution to do it. It’s also not cheap to do it.” She proposes a broader challenge: “How do you provide context for data? How do you provide qualitative information to complement the hard data, that can be as important or perhaps even more important for the [student’s] final decision?” There are indeed effective, remote avenues for impactful international student engagement.

Domestic partnerships in students’ home countries are one such strategy. Lehigh’s collaboration with a prominent Indian university, for instance, supports a pipeline for undergraduates to enter Lehigh’s master’s in bioengineering. The program offers Indian students a semester of research at Lehigh, providing a blend of research and study-abroad experience—opportunities that, as Matherly observes, cannot be captured by data alone. Such arrangements benefit both institutions and their students.

Beyond Transparency: Toward Context and Experience

Dr. Matherly calls on universities to embrace not just data access and accuracy - both foundational pillars of transparency - but to move further by contextualizing information for different populations, and to create genuine, meaningful experiences. Only then will international students and their families have the tools, understanding, and personal resonance necessary to make life-shaping educational decisions.

Cheryl Matherly is Vice President/Vice Provost of International Affairs at Lehigh University.

Alana Sobelman is Director of Research and Innovation at GradRight, and Founding Director of TrustED.