The Application of C4.5 Algorithm for Selecting Scholarship Recipients

Abstract

The scholarship program is one of the promotional techniques used by many universities, and the right scholarship award will certainly be an attraction for many people. STMIK Pelita Nusantara is one of the universities that organizes a scholarship program. In the current difficult economic conditions, the scholarship program is the target of many prospective students who want to continue their education in higher education. However, the absence of tools to process large amounts of data make determining scholarship recipients less effective and time-consuming. This situation is seen by the fact that some students are still unable to maintain the scholarships they receive. In the research, a classification model was proposed using the C4.5 algorithm approach by utilizing past data to facilitate the decision making of the scholarship program. This classification process produced a decision tree that could be used as a decision-making tool. Scholarships were awarded based on several criteria: academic potential, vocational potential, parents’ income, number of dependents, and employment status. Based on the data processing results of students who apply for scholarships in 2020 with predetermined criteria, the highest root is obtained. It consists of node 1 for academic potential, node 1.1 for vocational potential, and node 1.2 for parental income. The resulting decision tree model is expected to help to make decisions quickly and on target.

Keywords

• c4.5 algorithm
• scholarship program
• data mining
• decision tree
• data classification