Dive Brief:
- Using the new book "Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise" as the backdrop for examining institutional behavior, eCampus New pinpoints three of the common ideas that hold college enrollment management divisions from new gains in building student awareness and applications.
- Institutional missions and traditions are sometimes identified as an obstacle to the kind of students who can be recruited, but how can that mission be sold differently to a more diverse group of families in promotion of online learning or marketing techniques?
- Though practice does not make perfect and working harder does not produce more or better results, knowledge of best practices and targeted marketing efforts help institutions yield new recruitment gains.
Dive Insight:
College leaders must take a more strategic view of outcomes associated with student recruitment and enrollment strategy. Data continues to reveal that adult learners in career transition or with military connections are becoming the new "traditional" student, so creating valuable learning options for these groups should be a rising priority in recruitment efforts.
Focusing on students coming out of high school and living on campus remains an important element of the strategy, but given the rising costs of residential student status and the changing priorities for this group, a better investment may be in schools showcasing how they can save students money with alternative access methods, rather than convincing of the value in spending more.