If you have not viewed it yet, you might find great value in viewing our new video titled "Blending Business Acumen with Educational Mission - The Tiffin University Success Story."

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In twenty years of experience in launching these programs with partnering institutions I have been able to identify the perfect storm that creates a false start or a no start situation or even a shut down of a previously successful program.



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Federal regulations are in the works that will mandate more accountability for Financial Aid.  Sounds good at first, but may be a very scary thing.  The accountability is on the outcome, not the input.  If federal regulations can mandate which schools can get Financial Aid for students based on the rate of pay for the jobs those students get upon graduation....what is next? 

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There is much written today about value propositions.  The concept has been around for some time within the corporate vocabulary and is now moving into the halls of higher education administration.  The interesting thing about it to me is that no matter how good your value proposition might be, no one will speak with you unless you first listen to the point of pain.

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Today in the Omaha World-Herald the announcement was made that the 125-year old Lutheran Dana College has been sold to a group of investors.  When questioned about the financial troubles that led to this, the answer was simple.  The college couldn't keep doing things the old way.

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Higher education, like so many other business sectors, seems to be getting myopic about lead generation.  The contrarian in me wants to stand on a stump and yell out, "It's not about lead generation.... it is about enrollment conversion and persistence."

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The glacial pace of higher education may be its undoing.  Two days ago I had a discussion with another higher education service provider who was pulling up stakes in the higher education market.  His reason: "I can't continue with the glacier pace of higher education decision-making."

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Adult higher education is changing and there are two market realities energizing this shift - the consumer and the provider.

The consumer, adults over the age of 25, still has one driving force in selecting a provider for its higher education needs - Convenience.  No other single factor has a greater impact in this selection, even that of price.  Adults are busier than ever with the demands of home family and especially today the economic needs of work and provision.  In the midst of that juggling act, adults keenly recognize the need for higher levels of education in order to remain current, seek or retain occupation goals and provide for their standard of living.  It is convenient access they seek, are willing to work for and pay for.  The research is clear, they are coming back to school in droves and per my last blog entry, are falling into two very distinct categories.   The first category will find technology to be a barrier to convenience, and thus choose accelerated classroom formats.  The second category is fully online.

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Let the market speak.  I remember being told when I was young that I had two ears and one mouth for a reason...to listen more than speak.  The same principle is true when assessing the market response messaging from adult students.  A listening ear will notify us quickly that a shift in priorities is occurring.  Blended online may be on its way out.

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From an enrollment strategy perspective, would you rather be a big fish in a small pond or a small fish in a big ocean?  Believe it or not, the two are not mutually exclusive.

If your answer is to be a big fish in a small pond, you have already capped your institution’s growth potential.  It won’t be too long in the future when your institution's dominance in that small pond will begin to starve with the lack of resources to draw upon.  If you have not planned appropriately, your big fish strategy will mean you have a large infrastructure to support and an ever dwindling pool of potential candidates for new enrollments.