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The New Typical Student: How Three Schools Are Courting Adult Learners and Winning the Enrollment Game

For the 2016 American Marketing Association (AMA) Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education, OHO’s Managing Director and Founder Jason Smith will be leading a discussion on how schools are adapting their recruitment approaches and admission processes to attract “non-traditional” students.

The American Marketing Association (AMA) Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education is an opportunity for marketing leaders to come together to discuss strategies and the direction of the higher education market.

For the 2016 symposium, OHO’s Managing Director and Founder Jason Smith will be leading a discussion on how schools are adapting their recruitment approaches and admission processes to attract “non-traditional” students. He’ll be facilitating a discussion with marketing leaders from three top programs:

  • Andrea Fagon is the Director of Marketing and Communications at CUNY School of Professional Studies, a school where 85% of the students are online only. To increase enrollment, the City University of New York targets adult learners who would benefit from a fully-online degree program.

  • Melissa Marcello is the Managing Director at Champlain College Division of Continuing Professional Studies, with 4,600 active online students with an average age of 35. Champlain College’s truED program is a bold reimagining of workforce development that creates opportunities for adults to further their education. Champlain’s focus on empowering adult learners shapes everything they do, from inquiry through enrolled student.

  • Cristina Ruggiero, Ph.D. is the Associate Dean at University of Pittsburgh College of General Studies. Students at the College of General Studies skew younger, with 78% of the student population below age 30. The marketing team for the University of Pittsburgh College of General Studies works to support adult learner prospects and increase inquiries and applications by revising programmatic marketing efforts.

This panel will discuss their school’s strategies and highlight what’s working in non-traditional student recruitment. Topics will include:

  • Developing unique program/degree offerings

  • Aligning programs with the job market/employer skills gaps

  • Establishing new recruitment channels and experimenting with flexible payment models

  • What’s working in digital and in-person recruitment strategies

  • Strategies for building a pipeline for recruitment

  • Empowering adult learners from inquiry through enrolled student with better digital experiences and student support

The session, The New Typical Student: How Three Schools Are Courting Adult Learners and Winning the Enrollment Game, will be on Monday, December 5th from 2:00 to 2:45. You can visit the 2016 Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education Schedule to learn more about the session and visit the conference site for additional information about the event.