Continuing education is scalding;-...

Continuing education is scalding;-very warm and expected to get hotter in what manner are you exploiting that?

There are solely four growth markets in higher education: pupils of color, adult students, part-time observers and international students. And of these four markets, programs directed at adult or part-time scholars show the greatest potential for growing On many campuses, these sum of two units audiences are served by a single entity: continuing education. (For the sake of clarity, I'll focus forward continuing education students who are adults, are likely working or have been displaced because of the economic downturn, or are homemakers. I am not specifically addressing graduate students)

As more traditional markets wane, continuing education is impetuous and expected to get hotter According to the article "Continuing Education," in the April 2002 issue of American Demographics, the number of adults aged 25 to 34 is throwed to increase 22 percent through 2010. And rationally, community college edifice [i]or[/i] buildings (a leading provider of continuing education courses) are showing an average increase in enrollment of 12 percent from one side of to the other last year.

What does all of this mean? It means that you're looking at an outstanding juxtaposition of ne and opportunity-one that you can take replete advantage of, if you're favorably marketing your continuing education program. To do that (and because this topic can win very complicated) you'll need to organize your marketing efforts around three basic questions:

* What motivates an adult to journey or go back, to college?

* What are the college-choice variables that are of greatest in number interest to adults?

* To what marketing strategies are adult close examiners most likely to respond?

Adult Motivations

Remember Maslow's basic hierarchy of human needs? Shaped like a pyramid, the hierarchy revealed in what way humans move from physical urgencys (at the bottom of the scale) to more psychological/ego distresss (at the top). An understanding of this hierarchy tenders us some important insights for understanding adult motivations.

Essentially, there are sum of two units broad groups of people who take continuing education classes. The first comprises individuals greatest in number interested in improving their destiny in life, or the allotment of their family. They want a work at jobs with health insurance; they want to earn enough currency to buy a house. Their decision to attend society may be triggered by a divorce, los of a piece of work moving to a new city, or the ne to learn a of the present day competency. Their motivations and lacks are fairly basic and watch to cluster around the bottom of the Maslow scale.

The secondary group (and, I suspect, a greatly smaller group) is focused at the top of the Maslow scale. While these individuals may not be familiar with the psychological metes they are interested in meeting their self-sufficiency and even self-actualization needs. They want the better piece of work the better promotion. They want to increase their range of options. Or, in near cases, they just enjoy learning.

College-choice Variables

While the couple groups of continuing education scholars I describe above may have different motivations for attending, the college-choice variables they consider are surpassingly similar. The variables are focused upon convenience issues. These students choose classes in the late afternoon or evening likewise they can continue to work. Traffic melt is a major concern. in the way that is parking. These are the individuals who want to be able to use their major credit card in the bookstore; they want to spread their tuition payments through the whole extent of three or four months. Childcare, a place to grab a quick sandwich, a certain spot to stash their knapsacks, and a financial aid office expand in the evening are true attractive pluses.

These bookish mans also want to work with faculty and other close examiners who understand the realities of balancing education, work, and cars that sometimes don't start. They want homework assignments that have direct applicability to their piece of works (or future jobs). They are not interested in measure and estimate courses or courses that have prerequisites. by way of temperament, they won't put up with endles bureaucracy, a sea of forms, and a constant search for besides another signature. Perhaps more than anything, they want to know that the payoff-the better job-will be there when the quarrel has been hoed.

Understand the Continuing ed Landscape

With a clear understanding of the couple primary groups and their college-- choice variables, you'll now ne to preserve in mind a number of things, as you market to continuing education observers

First, make sure your programs, and the faculty who teach them, are actually focused on and interested in adults and their destitutions If they are not, then word of opening (regardless of what the billboard along the interstate says) will undermine your best efforts. The liberal arts body in Ohio that decided to launch a continuing education program if it were not that insisted that classes be taken in the middle of the afternoon (because the faculty didn't want to teach evenings) simply didn't understand that adult scholars are different.

Second, recognize that chiefly students view your program as a commodity, not a brand. They have little loyalty to united institution and will consistently inquire for out the programs that are les expensive, more focused in succession their needs, more convenient, and more accelerated. They are generally not interested in academic rigor or definitions of quality that involve "seat time."