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EDUInsight Article Highlights Index

Each week EDUInsight features interviews with today's higher education thought leaders. Highlights of these interviews are listed below with links to the full interviews. Join us each Monday for a procovative new perspective on higher education marketing and administration.

Retention is in the Numbers - 05/18/08

As the old saying goes, “There are statistics, damned statistics, and lies.” Nothing supports this adage than retention numbers. Most experts in the field reference data from IPEDS, the core postsecondary education data collection program for the National Center on Educational Statistics of the U.S. Department of Education (http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/), the numbers yielded from this source have proven not entirely representative. Because IPEDS only tracks incoming students with ZERO college credit hours, Students that transfer in or shift from part-time to full-time students are not counted in IPEDS. For example, a few years ago, it was noted that at University of Texas at El Paso, 70% of those earning their bachelor’s degree were not tracked in IPEDS. Our guess is that many other schools would report the similar results.

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Who is Interested in Online Education? - 05/05/08

From Sloan Consortium's report Making the Grade: Online Education in the United States, 2006: "There is some evidence that online education appeals to a different type of student from those who do face-to-face instruction. Online students tend to be older, and often hold additional employment and family responsibilities, as compared to the more traditional student.

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Retention is a Measure of Quality - 04/28/08

Colleges and universities now spend billions of dollars on their marketing efforts, delivering implied promises to prospective students to draw them to apply to their institutions. When an institution accepts that student, they convey a general sentiment that the student is capable of earning a degree, and that they will start to deliver on that promise. If a student drops-out, stops-out or transfers-out prior to achieving a degree – and nearly half of all students do – institutions fall short on their promise.

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One Million Studyabroad Students - 04/14/08

To learn more about the current market trends in adult and continuing education, EducationDyanmics recently held a series of focus groups with adult learners, with the primary demographic involved in online learning. The participants were adults, all with at least some college education who were interested in pursuing further education. Four sessions were held in two cities and the results, while far from scientific, suggest that there is still plenty of growth ahead for the continuing education market. That said, focus group data also implies great challenges remain in serving these students well.

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Adult and Continuing Education Populations - 04/07/08

To learn more about the current market trends in adult and continuing education, EducationDyanmics recently held a series of focus groups with adult learners, with the primary demographic involved in online learning. The participants were adults, all with at least some college education who were interested in pursuing further education. Four sessions were held in two cities and the results, while far from scientific, suggest that there is still plenty of growth ahead for the continuing education market. That said, focus group data also implies great challenges remain in serving these students well.

Continue reading the full article.

Everyone Complains About Low Retention - 03/25/08

Every fall, thousands of students begin their college careers with a shower of tears and a heaping mound of high expectations from their parents. The scene has been mythologized in countless movies and televisions ads: parents driving away after drop-ping off their children at college, eyes misty at the thought that their babies have left the nest for good. What isn’t mentioned in any of these scenes, however, is the high likelihood that the nest will be full once again, sooner than anyone might have imagined.

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Social Networking 101: Part of the Curriculum? - 03/17/08

Social Networking is one of the most overworked phrases in the tech and business world. If you’ve been living under a rock and need the definition of a social network, click here. MySpace, Facebook and now the British network Bebo (due to a $850 million buyout from AOL), are ubiquitous. These online communities have become extremely popular places for people to spend time—often many hours per day—but are these sites good for anything beyond games, chatter and superficial fun? Can they be utilized as tools with some level of academic value?

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Subprime Student Loans - 03/10/08

It has been a little over a year since New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo made a national name for himself through his efforts to stamp out corruption in the student loan industry. His investigation has brought to light certain business practices between schools and lenders that seemed underhanded and did not serve the best interest of the student borrowers. Of the shady practices, a primary concern was the norm of lenders offering gifts and kickbacks to schools in hopes of being placed on "preferred lender" lists.

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Empowering the Senior International Officers - 02/25/08

There is currently an increasing focus on student retention across the higher education field, with both traditional students and non-traditional students. Today, our system of higher education is under great scrutiny and the success of our students, especially in achieving a degree, has become an issue of heightened importance.

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Wanted: Chief Retention Officers - 02/18/08

There is currently an increasing focus on student retention across the higher education field, with both traditional students and non-traditional students. Today, our system of higher education is under great scrutiny and the success of our students, especially in achieving a degree, has become an issue of heightened importance.

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Sophomore Slump or Jump? - 02/11/08

New Year's resolutions provide a windfall for numerous personal-improvement businesses, including smoke cessation programs, gym memberships, diet plans AND an especially, an increased interest in going back to school. For companies that market adult education programs, January is a very busy month.

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Wild Year for Admissions Ahead: - 02/04/08

New Year's resolutions provide a windfall for numerous personal-improvement businesses, including smoke cessation programs, gym memberships, diet plans AND an especially, an increased interest in going back to school. For companies that market adult education programs, January is a very busy month.

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University of Phoenix Continues to Improve - 01/21/08

New Year's resolutions provide a windfall for numerous personal-improvement businesses, including smoke cessation programs, gym memberships, diet plans AND an especially, an increased interest in going back to school. For companies that market adult education programs, January is a very busy month.

Continue reading the full article.

The Constantly Growing Adult and Online Education Market - 01/14/08

As Richard Garret's interview suggests, there continues to be increasing interest in online education. According to a recent study, 25% of all US collegians took an online course last year—a statistic leading us to ask the question: When will it peak?

The answer? Not anytime soon, especially if you consider recent news. University of Phoenix, the bellwether of the online education companies, just recently reported very positive financial results. For the last quarter of 2007, the company that operates the University of Phoenix posted a 22.8 percent rise in quarterly earnings (profits), which exceeded stock analysts’ forecasts. The revenue growth was supported by an 11.4 percent increase in total degree enrollment to 325,000, as well as tuition increases in certain geographic areas and programs.

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What to Expect in 2008: Greater Focus on Catering to Underserved Student Populations in 2008 - 01/07/08

Increasing competition for students among for-profits, traditional schools and online learning programs will result in more aggressive recruitment and retention efforts targeting underserved student populations, according to Mark Shay, chief academic liaison at EducationDynamics and creator of EDUInsight.com. Forecasting emerging trends among higher education marketers for 2008, EducationDynamics and EDUInsight.com trendspotters say that above all, institutions will place a greater emphasis on marketing to underserved populations, particularly minorities and single mothers.

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It's The Faculty - 12/17/08

In the great race to declare success in recruiting and retention, we recall the once-famous political campaign advice used during Bill Clinton’s successful 1992 presidential campaign - "It's the economy, stupid.” Modifying this statement for the campaign for students, we propose - "It's the faculty, stupid." While a number of factors can draw a student to a school, nothing retains a student like a tight bond with faculty. In this week’s People with Impact interview, Bonnie Holaday describes the power of mentoring and the profound impact it makes on students.

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Higher Education Brand Loyalty - 12/10/08

While brand establishment has always been an important factor in full time admissions, as higher education capacity has grown in recent years, brand building and development has become more important in university marketing plans.

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Understanding Gatekeeper Courses - 12/03/08

Preparing students for an intensive educational experience abroad can be a challenge. In last week's People with Impact interview, John Stuppy of Tutorvista discussed how some online students struggle with "gatekeeper courses." What is a gatekeeper course? A gatekeeper course in the traditional sense is the first college-level course that students must pass before enrolling in more advanced courses in their major field. Such courses are characterized by high enrollment and low completion rates.

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Who is Interested in Online Education? - 11/26/08

Who is interested and who is enrolling in online degrees? Data varies, but does present some interesting discussion. From Sloan Consortium's report Making the Grade: Online Education in the United States, 2006: "There is some evidence that online education appeals to a different type of student from those who do face-to-face instruction. Online students tend to be older, and often hold additional employment and family responsibilities, as compared to the more traditional student."

Continue reading the full article.

Use of web video in student recruiting - 11/19/08

There is no doubt that the web is evolving faster than any other media in history. Online advertising is predicted to exceed $19.5 billion in the U.S. in 2007 which is well over 10% of the $153.7 billion spent on advertising. Online advertising continues to create new outlets as online consumer behavior evolves. Today online marketing includes search engine marketing, display advertising, e-mail marketing, affiliate marketing, interactive advertising, blog marketing, viral marketing and now Internet video.

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Innovative Ways to Improve Undergraduate Retention - 11/12/08

Higher Education spends huge amount of money in recruiting students but has long not addressed a huge issue, that of retention. One survey has 40% of freshman and sophomores dropping out of college or transferring to another institution (cite). Another states that 60% of all bachelor's degrees are awarded to students who started their education at another institution (cite).

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Heuristics and Discovery Learning - 11/05/08

A great deal has been written about how to communicate with today's youth, the so called Millennial Generation. Those of us involved in marketing to this group have a great deal more to read and write. Millennials are people whose entire lives been moderated by a keyboard, they consider the web as their primary source of information and have always had passwords and personal information stored on the web.

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Why international students don't love our online degree programs - 10/29/08

Globalization is a fundamental shift akin to the agricultural and industrial revolutions that dramatically changed the world in the past. The so called information age is upon us and a primary result of this open platform is globalization. As distance is no longer a barrier to trade, communication or exchange, we as a world are drawn together. Education visionaries see an opportunity to extend the benefits of western-style education beyond U.S. borders, which has precipitated the emergence of global learning networks.

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Online International Learning - 10/22/08

There has been growing interest in using online education to enhance a full-time student's educational experience. Colleges are experimenting with online and on-campus course mixes and there is an increasing amount of "blended programs" that are a formal mix of distance or independent learning and classroom experiences.

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How Much is Too Much Time Spent Online - The BlogAbroad.com experience - 10/15/08

A central issue for discussion in EDUInsight.com is the intersection of technology, marketing and education. This topic encompasses innovative uses of online education not just as a way to deliver courses, but also as a way to interconnect students and extend their educational experience. One area in which there seems to be huge opportunity to utilize communications technology is international education.

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For-Profit's Insatiable Demand for New Students - 10/08/08

As the higher education industry becomes increasingly more competitive, for profit colleges have competed very effectively with traditional schools is in the area of adult and continuing education. These part-time programs, offered both on-ground (on-campus) and online, have been lucrative "cash cows" for traditional universities in the past. Dubbed the “night school” market, such programs extend the brand and prestige of the university into the world of the working adult.

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Will the Admissions Packet ever Die? 10/01/08

It has been estimated that the average SAT taker will match with 60 schools and thus become a prospect in 60 recruiting systems. It is further estimated that each prospect will get three pieces of mail from being matched. That's 180 pieces of mail times the 1.5 million students who took the SAT test last year - That's a lot of paper. Add to that the 1.3 million students who took the ACT test and you get a sense that America's youth are being drowned in printed view books and brochures.

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Tracking the Performance of the For-Profit Universities - 9/24/07

There is a sector of companies that are defined as "for-profit" educational institutions that are also publicly traded companies. These include Strayer University (STRA), Capella University (CPLA), Career Colleges (CECO), Corinthian Colleges (COCO) and the biggest of them all University of Phoenix (APOL). The codes in the above list are their stock symbols. Click the link and you can see an investor profile of these companies.

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Successful College Student Retention - 9/17/08

Universities are most often run as silos, different entities (colleges, professional schools) operating independently under one loosely managed brand. At the nearby University of Pennsylvania, the Wharton Business School, the School of Social Policy and Practice, the School of Design, the School for Engineering and Applied Sciences and the College of General Studies are examples of unique entities that operate under the Penn umbrella. In the business world we would refer to this as a portfolio company where multiple divisions operate under one holding company. In either scenario, the silo's or divisions have a great deal of autonomy and tend not to collaborate with each other.

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Additional sections of this journal address student recruiting and student retention. We have also placed all articles with a common theme of online education and distance education programs in a separate portal. New articles will be posted each Monday, please check back by bookmarking this site or placing a link to this Innovative Practices in Communicating with Students portal.