Access and Prestige: The Complex Function of Financial Aid in Higher Education

In my last post, I wrote about how admissions works, although the lesson, perhaps, is that the term “admissions office” means very different things at different institutions. And while it’s still true that we in admissions and enrollment management all agree on one thing—that if a student never applies, they won’t enroll—it’s also true that […]

Discovering and Acting on Your Students’ Post-Pandemic Online Preferences: An Update

Introduction Like a great many other institutions, we emerged from the pandemic knowing that the disruptions of the last few years would inevitably lead to changes in the preferences and desires of our student population around the educational model and how education gets delivered. We also knew that, to remain successful and competitive as an […]

The Role of Admissions in Shaping the Student Body, and the Institution

In my last post on student recruitment, I mentioned that recruitment and admissions—although often thought of as the same thing—are actually very different functions at some universities. But because there are about 1,600 four-year public and private, not-for-profit colleges and universities that are at least nominally selective, the line and distinction between the two varies […]

Recruitment In Today’s Data-Driven, Evolving Higher Education Landscape

It has been said that all the world is simply a struggle between the “Haves” and “Have Nots.” How you view admissions and recruitment at your university probably depends a lot on which type of university you work at, whether you’re at a public, private, or for-profit institution, and—especially—what the mission of your institution looks […]

What an Administrator Needs to Know About Demographics

Having read in the last post about how marketing is an integral part of every college or university, it’s natural to wonder about the markets themselves: Who are they? Where are they? How have markets changed? And, especially in times of economic uncertainty, are there new markets we should be looking at? The good news […]

Applying the Four “P’s” of Marketing to Higher Education

There are typically three or four responses among higher-education colleagues when they hear the word “marketing”: It does seem strange that a subject matter taught to both undergraduate and graduate students can generate such responses, but I’m here to tell you that the term and the practice have both gotten mostly unjustified and unwarranted bad […]

6 Things Executive Leaders Should Know about Attracting and Retaining Effective Academic Advisors

It’s nothing new. While 2022 has brought what is being termed “The Great Resignation,” advising administrators have been struggling to attract and retain qualified, effective advisors long before the COVID pandemic and its budgetary and emotional challenges. One of the most overused, under-applied mantras in higher education is, “students first.” It sounds great, but what […]

There’s More to Lecturing than Lecturing

By Chet Jordan, Ph.D. Dean of Social Sciences and Professional Studies, Greenfield Community College     We often neglect silence. In our quest to preserve and uplift success, we shy away from what isn’t there, from who and what was left behind, and from the stories that got lost along the way. It is beautiful […]

Creating Inclusion in STEM

By Brice Yates, Ph.D. Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer for the College of Chemistry University of California, Berkeley     The challenges of increasing minoritized individuals enrolling in STEM have been well documented and discussed for many decades. STEM departments within colleges and universities have become more intentional in their recruitment efforts of enrolling […]