The Higher Education Sky is Falling! Alternate Ideas for Serving Adult Learners

Lately, it seems higher education is suffering from an inferiority complex.

Yes, I know what you’re thinking – “But what about the ivory tower? Aren’t all colleges and universities guilty of living in a microcosm of self-importance? ”

I’m not saying this mentality doesn’t still exist. But the post-2008 economic reality has gradually created a sea change in higher ed. As a higher education enrollment management practitioner, I stay up to date with the all too familiar stories of budget cuts, loss of state funding support, layoffs, departments disbanding, programs disappearing, and the challenges of competing in an increasingly global competitive marketplace. These are sad but true realities. However, the disturbing recent trend is that rather than strategizing ways to thrive in this new reality, many seem to be waving the white flag of defeat.
Some recent headlines:

“State budget cuts will cause ‘damage everywhere’ at UNC”

“University forced to bear millions in cuts”

“CSU salaries shrink amid budget cuts”

“Some California university degrees disappear amid budget cuts”

“Scores of Penn State job losses projected from funding cut”

It’s human nature to complain about our woes, and every great movie needs a villain. But while it’s easy to blame the banks, government, state authorization, for-profits, and every other perceived villain for burning down our pretty house, these aren’t our enemies. The more we focus on doom and gloom without examining our approach, the more we become our own worst enemy.

If the new economy has proven anything, it’s that a “build it and they will come” enrollment mentality doesn’t work. During the bubble, sometimes it felt like we were lucky and enrollments just happened. Not now. A number of recent headlines have questioned the value of a college degree.

A recent study by Pew Research examined the fundamental question “Is College Worth It?”.  While only 40% of the general public surveyed viewed higher education system as providing good or excellent value, 76% of college presidents thought so.

Clearly we have our work cut out for us because prospective students have choices.

While we tout our faculty, our reputation, our facilities, students ask:

• Which school is right for me?
• Which type of format works for my lifestyle (classroom online, hybrid, night, day, live, recorded, self-study, mobile learning, etc…)?
• What can I afford?
• Will this program or degree help me get a job or change careers?
• Should I skip school altogether because it’s not worth the investment?

Colleges and universities need to be prepared to build a business case – particularly for busy adult learners – for addressing these questions. Most simple respond to students by providing a list of requirements.

Savvy prospective students won’t invest in an education without measurable outcomes to justify their investment. In a highly competitive job market, the more educated, skilled, and experienced you are, the better your chances of keeping or finding a position. In higher education, we are uniquely prepared to provide new grads and adult learners with those outcomes! This is why we’re here. Maybe along the way, we’ve lost sight of that, but it’s not too late for a course correction.

We have real challenges with fewer resources to do our jobs, and more competition to face. But let’s think of this as an opportunity to challenge our assumptions and re-focus on how we can be better. Let’s examine our programs and be sure they do what we promise.

Do they teach applicable skills and impart current knowledge to prepare a student for jobs in today’s workforce? If so, let’s be sure we communicate that message to prospective students. If not, let’s revamp or develop new programs that do.

And we need a fundamental understanding of the prospective student decision process and behaviors to guide our enrollment marketing efforts.  Our focus should be on connecting the right students that match our institutional mission with the educational opportunities we offer.

So how do we get there?
1. Information – are you cultivating relationships with prospective students? This starts by understanding prospective needs and wants and capturing inquiry information including student interests, goals, and enrollment preferences. What do we know about market demand for our programs? Our competitors?

2. Dialogue – are you having face-to-face or telephone conversations with prospective students, or conducting robust email marketing conversations designed with a call to action and relevant content to encourage a conversation? As we learn more about our prospective students (see point 1), the more relevant we can be in our ‘conversations.’

3. Follow-up – when prospective students contact you, are you following up? In our research, many have delayed follow-up, if at all. When students complete a web form and the message they receive promises that they will hear from you, are you following up in a timely, personalized manner? Do alumni have the opportunity to share their opinions on program outcomes they experienced?

4. Action – combine information, dialogue, and follow-up into a comprehensive enrollment marketing and management plan and act on it.

It’s time to use this ‘sea change’ as an opportunity to reconsider our approaches. With information, creative approaches, a defined action plan, and a commitment to leveraging precious resources in smart new ways, the forecast for higher education doesn’t have to be negative.

Lesley Snyder is director of program development and marketing at the University of North Carolina – Charlotte and a DemandEngine associate consultant.