All kinds of students enroll in distance education programs. Gone are the days when internet-based education catering only to self-directed, skillful learners. Today’s online student may care for an aging parent, work, parent children, and manage relationships while going to school. He or she may be at economic risk, a first-generation student, or academically unprepared. […]
The sticker shock of higher education prices hits students early. First-generation college students in particular may not anticipate the total expense of the university experience. Tuition, living expenses, transportation and books add up quickly. Plus, students can feel anxious about the benefits awaiting them on the other end of a bachelor’s degree, having heard from […]
If you get 49 positive comments and one negative one on a course evaluation, as a teacher, you tend to fixate on the negative one at the expense of the others. That’s a real problem. First, it takes an emotional toll on the faculty member. Second, it makes using student feedback to improve difficult. How […]
Can a prospective student imagine themselves at your school? If they can, then they are more likely to do the things that they need to do in middle and high school to prepare themselves for college. But geography and cost often limit the number of campuses prospective students can visit. They may write off great […]
Students currently live in a uniquely distractable world due to the onslaught of information technology, so how can higher education create safe spaces from those distractions in order to get deep work done? Dr. David Peña-Guzman, Assistant Professor in the School of Humanities and Liberal Studies at San Francisco State University, joined the Enrollment Growth […]
Higher education has seen a decline in MBA interest over each of the last four years even at the prestigious business schools. Could specialization help boost business school enrollment while simultaneously preparing students for the deep work expected in today’s business environment? Dr. John Quelch, Vice Provost at the University of Miami and Dean at […]
Can students interact meaningfully online? It’s a question faculty members and educational leaders are still debating. But one online educator believes she has found the ways to make it happen. Dr. Carolyn Speer, Manager of Instructional Design and Access at Wichita State University, joined the Enrollment Growth University podcast to talk about why she’s doubling […]
Students can struggle to understand material presented in class. Those who fall the farthest behind are typically the most reluctant to ask questions. But when the same students get tutoring, they often fearlessly ask questions and easily grasp the subject matter. So how can a classroom be more like a tutoring session? Shana Cooper, English […]
Inside Higher Ed recently published an article about students who are choosing a degree, often computer science, for the practical benefits, but then three years into their career, many are realizing they don’t want to code their whole life – despite computer science being a much broader field than mere coding. How can students explore […]
Nearly all colleges and universities solicit student feedback through a formal evaluation process at the end of a course. The value of that feedback varies, and often, the activity seems more like a standardized exercise than a rigorous evaluation. What if a professor wanted deep, genuine feedback that students had thought through carefully? How would […]
Recently, we heard Dr. Gene Crume, President at Judson University, give a wonderful reality check keynote at an Inside Higher Ed conference about how important it is to truly understand your market perception and reputation. So we invited him to join the Enrollment Growth University podcast to talk about the enrollment growth importance of finding […]
U.S higher education has a completion problem. At many institutions, half the student body is failing to complete a degree within six years, and those students are the most likely to renege on their loans. Students from the lowest income families, who may have overcome steep odds just to get to college, are the most […]
The power of corporate partnerships remains undervalued and under-executed across higher education. But micro-internships can form a viable bridge for students to cross from academia to employment. To learn more about that, we explored an innovative program at Governors State University, a majority-minority public university of about 5,000 students located in the suburbs of Chicago. […]
Students are increasingly cognizant of the need to find a bridge between academia and the corporate world. They want to know when and how their on-campus experience will translate into a viable career. To answer that, one school, Northern Illinois University, created the Code Orange Initiative, a unique, hands-on, and engaging learning experience, in partnership […]
Erin Supinka, Assistant Director for Digital Engagement at Dartmouth College, recently won the Best of Conference Red Stapler at the High Ed Web Conference. Given the huge interest in doing social media right in higher education, I couldn’t wait to invite her to join the Enrollment Growth University podcast to talk about her lessons learned from a […]
What are the benefits of offering students a four-year aid package at the point of admittance? Michael Light, Assistant Vice President of Enrollment at Trinity College of Hartford, Connecticut, joined the Enrollment Growth University podcast to talk about the benefits of offering students a 4-year aid package at the point of admittance – especially for […]
Student success in learning and retention is governed by four easily observable emotions. Intuitive faculty can spot these emotions by working one-on-one with a student. Unfortunately, individual attention by a human can’t scale to an entire classroom, much less a large virtual one. Fortunately, scaling up is something that computers using AI and machine learning […]
Students today have higher expectations than ever. They’re scrutinizing the ROI from their college experience, demanding more efficient services, and expecting a seamless education. Decentralized models of student experience management may be traditional but they don’t work well in this environment. Drew Melendres, Senior Vice President of Enrollment Management and Student Affairs and Athletics at […]
Blockchain is a buzzword, but it’s also the future. And it’s helping the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s registrar combat fraud while improving the student experience. Mary Callahan, Senior Associate Dean and Registrar at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, joined the Enrollment Growth University podcast to talk about the fraud prevention and student empowerment benefits of offering […]
Small colleges struggle to offer the courses students want and need to take – due to limited resources. This problem can result in low enrollment, poor retention, and dissatisfied students. Some schools are solving their course availability issues through collaboration. Dr. Diana Comuzzie, provost and vice president for academic affairs at Schreiner University, joined the […]
The State of Georgia wants to increase the number of residents who hold postsecondary credentials. Consequently, Georgia’s academic institutions face huge but intriguing challenges in admissions, advising, and program development in order to assure student success. The University of North Georgia (UNG), an institution of five campuses and 20,000 students enrolled in graduate and undergraduate […]
Dr. James Lang, Professor of English and Director for the Center of Teaching Excellence at Assumption College, joined the Enrollment Growth University podcast to talk about the one question faculty should ask themselves before designing a new course. What Is Backwards Course Design? Backwards design says we should think about how to plan our courses […]
When a sizeable percentage of students are failing a critical, upper-level course, what can the university do? Many solutions could reduce academic rigor, ignore compliance issues, or eliminate core content. But that doesn’t have to be the case. At Cal State Polytechnic University, Pomona, a primarily undergraduate institution with a heavy emphasis on teaching and […]
Many faculty members came through the academy with a traditional approach to the classroom, the flipped classroom, and similar traditional educational models in mind. Whatever their pedagogical preferences, those faculty members possess critical, relevant content. They know what to teach. But then came distance education. And traditional faculty members often didn’t know how to teach […]
If a student has a specific goal in mind, something they’re passionate about and actively working toward, that they will be more likely to succeed. What we see on the ground, however, is that students tend to fall into career planning traps. How can career services offices use distance learning technology to help students avoid […]
You’ve heard the old adage, “You haven’t learned something unless you can teach it to somebody else.” What if that were the attitude with which we approached year-end exams? For one professor, it is. Dr. Stan Eisen, Professor of Biology and Director of Pre-Professional Health Programs at Christian Brothers University, joined the Enrollment Growth University […]
Many in higher ed are excited about the scalability potential of online courses, but it’s important not to treat these courses with a set-it-and-forget-it mentality. Content changes. Technology changes. Ever-evolving fields like engineering, especially, need to have the most up-to-date software and technology. So tt’s vital that schools come back and look at these courses, […]
As universities are striving to increase student collaboration, Dr. Scott Roberts is succeeding. He started at the beginning. In the classroom. He believes traditional learning spaces were designed with the teacher in mind, so they could speak at students. Collaboration was never a component of the traditional lecture hall setup. That’s all changing at The […]
Research shows that students who work 10 hours/week can succeed in college despite their jobs creating occasional bumps along the way. Those students working more than 15-20 hours/week, over one or more jobs however, might not have such a fortunate outcome. Long work hours can run late into the evening, so students show up for […]
Universities already know that a myriad of benefits stem from pursuing integrated partnerships with national and global employers. What is possible, though, when a company as large as FedEx joins forces with a university the size of the University of Memphis to make a meaningful impact on recruiting and retaining employees? We invited Dr. Richard […]
Universities need to engage with students in innovative ways. What that means changes from year to year as the pace of the technological revolution accelerates. It’s important for schools to find ways to use the technology that students themselves are using, not just the technology the institution previously invested in. How can universities better leverage […]
Many studies support a high-touch approach to faculty-student communication, citing how critical faculty engagement and relationships are for helping students value their academic experience. But how does that work in an online setting? When people think about email marketing, they often think of it as a high-value channel for their internal marketing teams. But could faculty […]
Every college has a mission, and most are pretty boring. Colleges have to figure out how to put that mission into compelling language that aligns with the audience they’re seeking. It’s a challenge because, at many small colleges, the mission statement was written in institutional language that falls flat. How can a university communicate it’s […]
A recent study from the Association of American Colleges and Universities reports that 60% of employers don’t believe college graduates are prepared to succeed in entry-level positions. How we can better bridge the technology gap between what institutions are teaching and what employers are expecting? To learn more, we invited Jennifer Johnson, Senior Lecturer […]
We invited Paul Bolton, Director of Adult Enrollment at Spalding University, and host of the podcast, “Reboot, 21st Century Enrollment Management” to join us on the Enrollment Growth University podcast to discuss all the steps necessary to successfully launch a new program at your institution. How to Gauge Market Demand and Student Interest Demand is […]
Many of us are familiar with sites like RateMyProfessors.com, a place for students to share their course experiences, determine a course’s difficulty, and learn a professor’s evaluated hot-or-not’ness before enrolling. The primary problem with that kind of site is that it doesn’t offer space for good quality discourse. It’s not helpful for students. And it’s […]
Stopouts and dropouts, especially coming late in an academic career, cause deep concern especially at institutions that primarily serve adult students and commuters. Many stopouts intend to return but never do, and two rounds of stopping out almost assure that a student will never finish their degree. What cause stopouts and dropouts late in an […]
Employer partnerships are often under pursued – or at least, under executed – in higher education. But for a faith-based institution with religious-specific degree programs and connections to a denomination, partnerships with churches can also help increase enrollment. At North Central University, a school located in downtown Minneapolis near the US Bank Stadium and affiliated […]
Adults have done so much in the work world that when they come back to college they bring a specific set of baggage. If we can unpack that baggage, our classrooms will be packed with students who bring unbelievable context to the academic setting. These adult learners might not be perfectly prepared to write an […]
Extensive commercial textbooks are large, heavy, and expensive. Some students refuse to buy them. Others leave them at home when studying in class or while at the library. Consequently, some universities are turning to Open Educational Resources (OER). These are high quality teaching, learning, and research materials that are free for people everywhere to use […]
Online education has exploded over the last 10 years. And while remote learning is creating much needed convenience for non-traditional learners, some liberal arts colleges fear they are losing the most powerful benefits of the traditional classroom in the process. Schools like Alma College, a liberal arts institution of about 1,000 students in central Michigan, […]
Competition for students is increasing in higher education. So institutions are experimenting with innovative pricing models to attract their ideal students. Many schools began by making online programs available at in-state tuition rates for out-of-state students. This policy eventually led a few institutions to offer a flat rate to both in-state and out-of-state students. One […]
Students expect a high level of service, but the word “customer” in higher education has historically been viewed as taboo. In an era where customer service is integrated into every sector from retail to transportation, therefore, universities may not meet students’ expectations. Dissatisfied students and parents create enrollment turnover. And it’s much more expensive to […]
Students value choice. And often, the best students can choose from many institutions once they’ve been admitted. How does a university convince students to to avoid being part of the melt? To find out, we invited Jay Jacobs, Director of Enrollment Management and Admission Operations at University of Miami, to come on the Enrollment Growth […]
Adult and online students are especially concerned about pricing. They don’t just want fair prices, they want clear ones. People on college campuses are talking through interesting ideas about student loans, and schools are experimenting with innovating price structures. Still, students are complaining. In other words, it’s the perfect environment for an entrepreneurial approach to […]
Retaining students from enrollment through graduation is an escalating concern in higher education. Institutions serving a large percentage of students who are the first in their families to attend college face additional challenges to helping students complete their degrees. One university is appropriating what they call high-touch technology strategies to aid in student success. One […]
Coding, business, other skills-based bootcamps are often portrayed in the headlines as a potential replacement to traditional higher education. Prospective students see them as an entryway to high-paying jobs without having to invest four years of time and take on the burden of student loan debt. Consequently, some universities see these new, hard-skills focused educational […]
Across higher education, there are more than 34 million students with some college credit, but no credential. That’s almost 1 in every 10 Americans. Dawn Medley, Associate Vice President of Enrollment at Wayne State University, is looking to change that statistic, and she’s starting with the people in her area that fall into that category. […]
For decades, academic transcripts haven’t changed. Employers used them to certify that applicants had a minimum of a bachelor’s degree as well as necessary skills and abilities to do the job. But over the years, registrars across the country have started to see fewer and fewer requests for traditional academic transcripts. Today’s employers say traditional […]
Budget line items for prospective student list buys can be staggering. One university has discovered how to target those list buys in ways that improve prospect responsiveness, increase student retention, and enhance student satisfaction, all while reducing expenses. Jay Goff, Vice President for Enrollment and Retention Management at Saint Louis University, came on the Enrollment […]
Students and their families are interested in outcomes when they review prospective colleges. But often, specific stories resonate more deeply than percentages. Statistics can be powerful, but it’s stories that bring the data to life. Telling a compelling collegiate story is a challenge now that print publications are in decline, and traditional media outlets are […]
Most of us have gotten more than our fair share of GDPR emails in recent months. Businesses and education institutions alike have been scrambling to update their privacy policies as the new data privacy law went into effect on Friday, May 25, 2018. The new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is forcing everyone to take […]
What if finding the right prospective students was as easy as searching the map of a real-estate search site like Zillow? Focusing outreach on geographic areas that offered the highest possibility of return could maximize marketing resources and grow enrollment faster. This is exactly what the team at the University System of Georgia (USG) has […]
Higher education is under fire with naysayers claiming it charges too much and provides too little. Rising student loan numbers, pricy tuition, and majors that may not lead to employment within the field have spurred legislators, parents, and students alike to ask if a bachelor’s degree is worth the investment. At the University of Texas, […]
Your university’s brand is not what you say it is. Instead, your brand is what other people believe you to be. Do you want to know what your university’s brand is? Ask your students. They’ll tell you. If you have 8,000 students, you’ve got 8,000 brands out there. At SUNY Oswego, the marketing team went […]
University Marcom offices often nail down their marketing work tight. They may also churn out some press releases that occasionally get picked up in major publications. But when places like the New York Times are producing world-class storytelling experiences, it changes prospective students’ expectations. Universities need to think differently about strategic content, how it can […]
University website governance straddles marketing and information technology. In some cases, a third-party resource such as a CMS vendor enters the mix. Since the web is the largest marketing tool a university has, website ownership is critical to enrollment management. Keeping a consistent brand, voice, tone and overall content strategy on the site while simultaneously […]
Students looking to select an academic major often get stuck on higher education websites reading PDF major sheets as their primary information source. But how can universities build online tools that actually advise undecided students about potential best-fit program matches? Tyler Gayheart, Director of Strategic Communication at the University of Kentucky, came on the Enrollment […]
How do you disseminate information and communicate to students in a meaningful avenue to create engagement? Samantha Krotzer, Content Manager at Temple University came on the Enrollment Growth University podcast to share how her team developed a newsletter geared specifically toward student engagement. The newsletter has been so effective, students, faculty and staff across Temple’s […]
Athletics can be a win for your university’s brand strategy in the field of social media. College sports brands have huge audiences and often have far greater numbers of followers on social media than the universities themselves. How can this benefit an institution’s greater communication strategy? Recently we talked to Bruce Floyd, Social Media Manager […]
Retention is a crucial metric for any higher education institution. We all know it, we all study it, and we’re all trying to increase our retention rates. So what do you do when, through some deep data analysis, you discover some surprising and unusual trends around first-year retention rates, particularly around those who live close […]
The ever increasing demand of competition for students requires higher education leaders to be more and more creative in their offerings. What better way to tap into the trend of students staying local for their higher education than to partner with cities and offer local internship opportunities? Our guest this week on the Enrollment Growth […]
Multimillion dollar fundraising can feel like a moving target. And in many ways, it is. Thankfully, there are great institutions across the US who are narrowing in on just what it takes to bring in donations on a grand scale, without losing sight of the individuals who help them achieve their 10-figure goals. Our guest […]
Prospective students are seeking more than just education these days. They are seeking out experience and opportunity and, if your institution can’t offer that, you could be missing out recruiting engaged and innovative students. Programs that offer real-world experiences, such as entrepreneurial business ventures, are drawing students who recognize the value of such programs to […]
“Set it and forget it!” While this approach is a great for selling kitchen appliances to the infomercial masses, it’s less than ideal for maintaining your institution’s website. Your website is likely the first impression many of your prospective students get, so having an outdated, unchanging design and content are a huge turnoff. Yes, it […]
When we talk about enrollment growth, what we’re really talking about is balance. We recently interviewed Dr. Raafat Zaini, Research Scientist at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), the expert who is responsible for creating a dynamic enrollment model for university expansion. The bottom line of Dr. Zaini’s research study, “Let’s Talk Change in a University: A […]
You’ve seen it before. A well-spoken, brilliant high school student, sitting in your office, with fantastic GPA, but lousy SAT scores. You want to accept her, but your hands are tied and your heart is broken. Again. Without those supporting scores, there’s nothing you can do, but wish her luck elsewhere. Our guest this week […]
There are several motivating factors behind a web redesign. These factors range from flaws with design and content, to organizational concerns. While in the realm of web redesign, there are different ways to approach it. Some may choose to completely demolish and start anew. Others might go the route of polishing and trimming an already […]
Building a brand is integral to any university marketing strategy. But what should the architecture of your brand look like? Should you have one big branded university or several smaller colleges and departments with their own unique brands? It’s not that simple, of course. There’s a wide spectrum of possibilities in between a strict branded […]
Understanding where and how your potential (and current) students find information is key to reaching them. Facebook and other social media sites have made it easier than ever for students and prospective students to connect with universities. Not everyone can travel to a campus where they’d like to study or speak one-on-one with a representative […]
Higher ed is often criticized as stubbornly sitting in its ideological ivory tower, refusing to change as business and industry requires. Sometimes, though, that stubbornness is born less from lofty ideologies and more from poor communication and missed collaborations. While new classes and programs can create an exciting new draw for your institution, by the […]
Your students are an infinite, often untapped, source of talent and content. You just need to know where to dig for it. Our guest this week on Enrollment Growth University was Lougan Bishop, Web and Digital Media Manager at Belmont University. Lougan leads a student-driven social media team at the university, who are helping redefine […]
Auto-play videos on websites are the worst. They start blaring from your computer speakers without warning as soon as the page loads. Then, you have to quickly find the pause or mute button. It’s frustrating, and frustration does not make for a good user experience. Imagine if you couldn’t see the pause button. Or, if […]
If you’re a higher ed leader and think social media is only for your marketing team, I’m sorry, but you’re wrong. By avoiding these powerful communication tool, no matter the platform, you’re actually missing out on endless opportunities to create and foster genuine connection with students, future students, prospective students, donors, alumni, etc. Our guest […]
Is your content strategy to publish first and ask questions later? If so, you could be missing out on valuable data that can help you produce and refine the quality content that your users are searching for. Our guest this week on the Enrollment Growth University was Amanda Costello, Editor and Content Strategist for the […]
Most podcasts won’t make it past three episodes. They’ll start with incredible momentum and grand ambitions, but most will ultimately fail to find that sustainability to keep producing week after week. Our guest this week on the Enrollment Growth University was Jackie Vetrano, Social Media Coordinator for Skidmore College, who launched the college’s podcast, This […]
Recruiting has always been an enormous focus for colleges. Now, more than ever, administrations are leaning on faculty to assist in those efforts. We recently spoke with Ryan Bebej, Assistant Professor of Biology at Calvin College, about the role that faculty play when it comes to the recruitment process of students—what it is, what it […]
The media gatekeepers no longer hold the only set of keys to your institution’s storytelling. Imagery defines the current age. Snapchat, Instagram and easy, affordable access to HD video-making has redefined the way stories are shared. Tom Durso joined Enrollment Growth University to share how his university, Delaware Valley University, is building a modern-day media […]
In 1971, a veteran founded National University after experiencing the inconveniences of higher education for working adults—especially active-duty military and veterans. We recently interviewed Aaron Edgell, Head of Marketing Services at National University, to talk about how T-shaped hiring can help you build a robust team able to perform at all levels. In the world […]
Many universities have turned to fundraising as the means to keep doors open. Cornell has been listed in the top five universities for fundraising each year and is known for is willingness to take risks and try new things with digital technology. We recently had a very insightful conversation with Ashley Budd, Director of Digital […]
On this episode of Enrollment Growth University, we got a chance to sit down with Nick DeNardis, Director of Digital Communications at Wayne State University, about the must-have tools for your higher education measurement toolkit. Biggest Recent Advancements in Higher Education Digital Measurement Over the course of the past five years, the amount of data […]
Day in and day out, we are inundated with tragedy. Think about it: from the news, to social media, if it seems like you can turn on the tv, open an app, or log onto the internet without being confronted with tragedy. If you’re a higher education institution, what is your role? How do you […]
How do you set your students up for success in the employment arena not just after graduation, but before they graduate? On this episode of Enrollment Growth Univesity, we got the chance to chat with Dr. Colby Jubenville, the Director of the Center for Student Coaching and Success at Middle Tennessee State University to talk […]
Secretly, all students wish they could shove a pie in their professors’ faces. For the alumni at Concordia University, Nebraska, that desire became a reality. We recently interviewed Seth Meranda, Director of Marketing at Concordia. He discussed how a Facebook Live stream had their community glued to their screens and reaching for their checkbooks during a […]
At many institutions, faculty and marketing aren’t exactly BFFs. The two seem locked in a perpetual power struggle, one that isn’t easily avoided—unless the relationship is handled well from the beginning. We recently had a great conversation with Jillian Coppler, Executive Director of Enrollment Marketing at Fresno Pacific University, about how she and her team […]
Harvard didn’t exactly need to create an elaborate campaign to spread the word about their university, but they did identify a need to connect and engage people with their world-renown institute on a more intimate and authentic level. On this episode of Enrollment Growth University, Mike Petroff, Senior Associate Director of Content Strategy at Harvard […]
As a higher education professional, you are always looking forward. Forward to next semester, next year, the next graduating class, and forward to future enrollment goals across your institution. On this episode of Enrollment Growth University, Dr. Joseph Brennan, VP of Communications & Marketing and Clinical Professor of Business at The University at Albany, discusses […]
Your university experience is a product—even if that term makes you uncomfortable. Concordia University, Irvine has an incredibly interesting approach to academic program development that we’re going to share with you today. We recently interviewed Rick Hardy, their Lead Marketing Officer, on the Enrollment Growth University podcast, and Rick shared how the “Four P’s” of […]
On the latest episode of Enrollment Growth University, Matt Hames, Communications Strategist at Colgate University, discussed how to centralize your social media governance and utilize Facebook’s hyper-targeting capabilities for your enrollment growth initiatives. This post is based on what he shared in his interview. Several years ago, Matt embarked on what I would call a […]
Adult and continuing education departments are often outliers on campus. They often have separate governance, with separate resources. But in the most recent episode of Enrollment Growth University Lesley Nichols, Executive Director of Professional Studies at Emerson College, discussed the integration and shared resource benefits of bringing adult and continuing education departments off their own […]
Bridgewater State University is onto something special when it comes to student retention. Dr. Ed Cabellon, Assistant to the VP of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management at Bridgewater State University, recently talked with us about how his university leveraged technology to build capacity and more effectively engage and retain current students. Below are some […]
Erik Runyon is one of the leading technical minds in higher education. Erik, Technical Director at the University of Notre Dame, recently joined us for a podcast interview to talk about how Notre Dame uses web speed as an enrollment strategy. He made a very compelling case for taking a performance-based view of web development. […]
The transition to a new enrollment role in higher education isn’t easy. You’re expected to change things—fast. Yet, if you move too fast, you’ll make critical mistakes that could’ve been avoided with a little more contemplation. In the most recent episode of Enrollment Growth University Jennielle Strother, Chief Enrollment Officer at Concordia University, Texas and […]
For people who grew up along with social media, experimentation was normal. It was all new, so everyone was experimenting. Tim Cigelske, Director of Social Media at Marquette University, is one of those people. When Snapchat came out, Tim had a kid and another on the way. In his words, he was “too old for […]