Non-Traditional Students Might Just Save Them
I’d love to subscribe to the Chronicle of Higher Education, but I can’t afford it. It’s $119.00 a year for e-articles. Really? But I do get their notices of new articles, and every so often, I can sneak past the “freebie filter” and read a few. Alas, there was one recently I couldn’t read, but it was tackling the concept of working with the Adult Learner. I was intrigued- just not $119.00 worth…
It reminded me of my stint as the Copy Editor on my small college Annual my Senior year. We “flipped the script” by doing tons of two-page features about “regular campus life”; we did stories about our bicycle culture, the local Andy Griffith-style police force, and surprise, a two-page spread on Day Students. I got that assignment. It resulted in an eye-opening set of interviews about doing college differently from the residential model 95% of us were in. Our Day Students had Another Life and college was in a specific and different place. Day. Remote, or now Online Students may be all that stands between thriving and shuttered doors of higher education across the country for the next 10 years.
Colleges AND Universities are in trouble; we all know that. Some common reasons include; outrageous price tags even for regional and local schools, a declining generational cohort of eligible students, and the rising dropout phenomenon driven in part by employment scarcity and hefty base pay. It’s looking bad and getting worse. In simple words, the dependable 18-24 yr old money train is slowing and threatening to derail. The old models are being challenged by the realities of a multicultural America that needs higher education designed & delivered for them, not the other way around. If colleges and universities want BICs (Bu—- In Chairs), they may need to get more creative. They also need to join the 21st Century by learning how to deliver content, while crafting a sustainable path to better graduation rates.
Don’t worry about the Elite Crowd. They’ll always have more applicants than chairs, and they like it that way. But small, struggling private schools, smaller regional schools, and average state-supported universities are seeing enrollments decline nearly every semester. The numbers are getting serious. All these institutions DEPEND on tuition/room and board, not their endowments. When things have looked bad in the past, they have sought taxpayer monies from their state treasuries. State revenues are declining due to lower sales and gas taxesand rampant inflation. I predict a lot less bailout funds available.
So, where do they need to go to recruit new or different students? Frankly, in places, they’ve never been. They need to have systems in place that work for day students, remote students, and working students. Yeah. That’s not their normal contingent. Here are some low-hanging fruit options to consider.
CDND’s- College Debt, No Degree. While it is just an estimate, roughly 16.6 million people have no degree but are paying off college debt. Start with those who enrolled and left your university before completion. Use your own institutional data to find those who didn’t quite become alums. Show them they can take courses online asynchronistically (pod-like lectures they can study on their own schedule) and do the work while doing life, BTW, offer some serious tuition discounts. If they enroll for 12 hours a semester, they can suspend their repayments on their old loans, which is a selling point. Consider testing for life and work experience for academic credits. The student of the future looks different and has different needs. You have some work to do to reach them. They represent what you need to keep the doors open.
Tap into the Veteran’s Market. While the military offers VERY GOOD educational benefits to their members, some never get around to taking advantage of them. Make sure your institution is approved for military students and their families. Then, work to welcome this cohort by reaching out to local veterans’ organizations!
REALLY partner with Community Colleges. Yeah- every state has a credits system and process for accepting 2-year students into 4-year programs. However, nothing is done about providing training on the new school culture, expectations, issues, resources, etc. They figure if you are a rising Junior you can handle it.
Maybe. I know a friend’s daughter who did 2 years of Community College and then transferred to a state 4-year university. She said she would not have made that transition without having her best friend as her roommate and fellow transferee. It was a steep mountain to climb to adjust to her new environment, processes, and academic expectations. BTW, she got her Associates’ Degree with straight A’s. if a high quality student from a CC environment says that, there’s room for improvement.
Fix your Horrid Graduation Rates. The best graduation rates in state supported schools are an embarrassment. The AVERAGE National 4-year graduation rate is 41%. Yes. That is from government AND private statistics. The 6-year rate is a whopping 61%. Still abysmal. If given the power, I would require EVERY school to post this prominently on their website and ALL literature. Your odds of graduating from certain schools are worse than winning in Las Vegas. Parents, you want your kid in a school with the best graduation statistics you can afford. Check those numbers at https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/.
Declining student availability numbers means the Education Industry needs to change its game plan. Students aren’t automatically gracing your hallowed halls anymore. It would help if you revamped how to do college, find less expensive delivery methods, and seek out the marginalized and sidelined cohorts out there.
That is if you want to survive.
Until Next Time,
All My Best,
Bonnie Burkett
