A new partnership between the University of Bridgeport Innovation Center and M&T Bank resulted in a seven-week program designed to help local multicultural business owners thrive by providing guidance and skills to operate their business. The M&T Small Business Lab program, which accepts as many as 50 Black, Hispanic/Latinx or Asian American entrepreneurs, kicked off in September and covers credit, developing a business plan, pitch tips and marketing and branding advice.
At the University of Massachusetts Amherst, a University Without Walls program offers non-credit programs in a wide range of subject areas to individuals looking to advance their careers or start a new career. Some programs lead to non-credit certificates while others help prepare students for licensure exams.
Struggling with declining enrollment, colleges and universities are developing innovative programs to offer students more flexible learning pathways, partnering with local businesses to provide skills and training, adding certificate programs, providing non-credit courses and offering stackable degrees.
The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center (NSCRC) data points to significant postsecondary school enrollment declines of 4.1 percent in the spring of 2022. Following a 3.5 percent drop in enrollment in the spring of 2021, colleges and universities have lost nearly 1.3 million students since spring 2020.
Higher education software and services provider, Jenzabar, surveyed 145 college and university administrators and discovered that 45 percent of respondents said enrollment had declined at their institutions in the past year.
According to survey participants, many schools have invested in technology over the past year, with 51 percent increasing spending on infrastructure and technology and 64 percent expecting to increase technology spending in the next school year. The objective of the enhanced technology is to support flexible course pathways, advancing skills development and offering career preparation for students.
Colleges and universities also are looking into non-credit courses. The survey results revealed that 62 percent of schools either are currently offering or plan to offer a variety of non-credit courses, while 52 percent are now offering or will offer non-credit certificate programs. Sixty percent are now offering or will offer stackable degrees.
Institutions are also forging business partnerships with local companies to offer alternative learning opportunities for students. About half (53%) of survey respondents said they were currently working with local businesses to offer skills or workforce training.
Interestingly, colleges and universities are combining approaches to expand their flexible learning opportunities. For instance, 71 percent of the participating institutions that partner with community businesses are now offering or plan to offer non-credit courses, and 63 percent are likely to offer or plan to offer non-credit certificate programs.