Oct 4th 11 Posted by Brenda Harms

Marketing and Recruitment: The Dynamic Duo for Success

One of the greatest claims I hear made when enrollment numbers are down is that it is due to lack of marketing, or lack of good marketing, depending on the school.  While I absolutely agree that good marketing is a critical first step (you don’t get to work at a marketing firm without this fundamental belief), it is not the only step.  How many of us have ever purchased anything (let alone something... read more

Mar 18th 11 Posted by Brenda Harms

SUCCESS! 2011 Stamats Adult Student Marketing Conference

At this year’s third annual Stamats Adult Student Marketing Conference we had two attendees who have actually attended this conference since its inception in 2009.  Following the conference, one of these two distinguished guests said, “The best one yet.” From my vantage point, I could not agree more.  Without a doubt, the conference started off strong as attendees had the opportunity to hear... read more

Dec 14th 10 Posted by Brenda Harms

2010 Adult Student TALK Research is IN!

Its official, the 2010 Adult StudentTALK™ research has been collected and the data is being crunched as we speak.  I’m really excited this year as we have moved forward with our third consecutive year of gathering information about the factors that influence college choice decisions for adult and what actually motivates them to return to school with their already busy lives.  In an effort to... read more

Dec 10th 10 Posted by Brenda Harms

What the Future Holds

In September 2009, the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) came out with a 168-page report that looked at enrollment projections to 2018 in elementary as well as secondary education. The report itself is a good (if long) read, but there are a few pieces specifically that I think help tell the story for those of us offering programming to adult students at the undergraduate and graduate... read more

Nov 15th 10 Posted by Brenda Harms

Serving Adult Students – a Sometimes Frustrating Venture

I just returned from a conference last week where I was presenting on the state of higher education and the need for many institutions to rely more heavily on their adult student market. The message was well received but the tone of general frustration was apparent among the audience. It seems that many institutions are still slow to give credit to their adult student programs for the revenue, community... read more

Nov 2nd 10 Posted by Brenda Harms

Adult Student Education–A New Focus

While we really don’t talk about it often enough in higher education, our nation is in a state of crisis when it comes to the educational background of our adults in comparison to other countries.  At this point the U.S. no longer leads (and barely even is part of the pack) of those countries who have the mostly highly educated workforce.  And while we are all aware of this, it is only recently... read more

Oct 5th 10 Posted by Brenda Harms

Valuing Partnership

As I think about the efforts four-year institutions are going through right now to try to befriend community colleges, I can’t help but think about the fact that many of the original “good partnerships” in higher education started with adult student programs. Many schools that I visit have had long-standing arrangements (some more formal than others) in relation to the 2+2 that community colleges... read more

Sep 16th 10 Posted by Brenda Harms

Mark Your Calendars!

I’m thrilled to announce that the 2011 Stamats Adult Student Marketing Conference will be held this year at The Buttes Resort in beautiful Tempe, Arizona.  Please mark your calendars now for February 15 – 17th and plan to join us for this great event.  As I am busily putting the finishing touches on the program schedule I am particularly excited to be able to bring to you sessions that focus... read more

Sep 8th 10 Posted by Brenda Harms

The Luxury of Time

We all know the scenario. Enrollment projections are fine all through the summer on the traditional side of the house and then within the first two weeks of fall classes starting—WHAM! Crisis!! The numbers weren’t what we thought they would be, or the discount rate was so high that even though we are bursting at the seams with students we don’t have enough revenue.  And then, the ask (or demand... read more

Aug 18th 10 Posted by Brenda Harms

Adult Student Webinar

In this world of tight budgets, I am particularly excited about presenting a Webinar focused entirely on adult students on September 23. As many of you know, at the end of 2009 we repeated the 2008 Adult StudentsTALK™ research to get a better sense of how the economy was affecting adult student motivations. And while we may have hoped that they were planning to return to higher education in droves... read more