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Vol. 12, no. 14 Stamats QuickTakes Insights into leadership, strategy, and integrated marketing for colleges and universities by Dr. Robert A. Sevier, Senior Vice President, Strategy, at Stamats, Inc. (bob.sevier@stamats.com) View the complete issue of QuickTakes online. JOIN US ON...  Ning Facebook TwitterMARK YOUR CALENDAR Stamats' Seminars SIM Tech Stamats Integrated Marketing Graduate Student Conference Visit www.stamats.com for more information. Stamats' Webinars 2009 SUMMER TeensTALK® Findings 60 Minutes to a Better Campus Visit Presentations You will find Stamats' higher education marketing experts at a variety of conferences throughout the year. Learn more... |
IN THIS ISSUE
The Increasingly Cluttered Landscape of Adult Student Recruitment I had the pleasure of speaking with a number of individuals who were interested in discussing what I am calling the highly competitive, highly cluttered landscape of adult student recruiting. As I listened to the concerns, the number of competitors, the inability to bring in the same numbers as years past – or even to increase numbers, I was struck by one thing. All of these programs are being asked to operate on minimal resources, both human and financial, in a marketplace that has shifted significantly in the last 10 years.Teens Reveal College Choice Tipping Point By Eric Sickler, Principal Consultant Looking back, perhaps I shouldn’t have been as dumbfounded. But then again, these are extraordinary times. Here’s the SUMMER TeensTALK® finding that rocked my world... About a month ago we asked students across the country to identify the single most influential consideration they weighed as they made their final college selection. Fastest Growing Teen Segment I found an interesting article in a recent Quirk’s Marketing Research Review (June 2009) about the fastest growing minority group in America—Latinos (and particularly young Latinos). This ethnic group will have a significant impact on the higher education market in the short- and long-term. The article noted that today, about 34% of the Hispanic population is under 18 years of age, and about one in every five teens is Hispanic. And by 2020, the number of Hispanic teens is expected to increase by 62%, compared to just 10% of teens overall. Occasional Paper: Moving Ahead With Confidence In June, I attended a board meeting in the South. During the meeting, the chief admissions officer answered four questions given to him by the board chair a couple of weeks previously:
During the next hour, the enrollment officer indicated they would not get the class, they would miss their tuition revenue goal, their discount rate would likely increase, and their academic quality would probably slip. As he talked, the faces of the board members revealed surprise, frustration, panic, and even a little anger. The next few minutes erupted into a verbal freefall that centered around one theme: “Why weren’t we told it was this bad?” Later, during a break, one board member mentioned to me that the presentation and follow-up discussion reminded him of a scene from 12 Angry Men. “That’s what the board was,” he said, “22 angry men and women who feel like they were ambushed.” I was amazed by his assertion that the board was ambushed. How, I wondered, could they have missed all the data about the economy and its impact on enrollment? I probed a bit and the board member admitted that they knew things were rough, but somehow they felt that their school would not be impacted that much. The afternoon meeting was a mixture of finger pointing and hand-wringing. They adjourned frustrated, worried about what had happened, but without a clear course of action. This summer, I had the good fortune to read Jon Meacham’s Franklin and Winston, an examination of the extraordinary war-time relationship between these two great leaders. At one point in 1940, Churchill turned back calls for recrimination about Britain’s failure to stop Hitler sooner, saying, “Of this I am certain. If we open a quarrel between the past and the present, we shall find that we have lost the future.” I am worried that too many schools seem preoccupied with what happened and why, and they are not identifying those strategies that will help them move ahead with confidence. Recognizing that 2010 will likely be more challenging than 2009, I want to offer four near-term strategies that will positively impact enrollment and net tuition revenue:
As I assembled these suggestions, I sought options that did not require significant dollar expenditures. Download the rest of the Occasional Paper...
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| ABOUT STAMATS Every year, more than 100 colleges and universities trust the team of integrated marketing professionals at Stamats to help them define, communicate, and keep their brand promises. Stamats' services include research, consulting, publications, interactive media, search solutions, and advertising. COPYRIGHT, DISTRIBUTION, AND PERMISSION Stamats QuickTakes is published by Stamats and is distributed to our clients and colleagues in higher education at no charge. Contents (c) 2009 by Stamats, Inc.Please forward copies of Stamats QuickTakes in its entirety to colleagues. Visit www.stamats.com/quicktakes for past issues. Stamats. Promises kept. |
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