Colleges and universities must demonstrate the marketplace value of their content and credentials to attract ROI-minded prospective students.
Prospect students want to know that their investment in education will pay off. They need to be sure that after graduation they will be able to find real-life work opportunities in their field rather than remaining unemployed for an extended period of time. Colleges and universities must demonstrate that the value of their learning content and credentials will result in a positive return on investment (ROI).
The enrollment landscape is changing, according to a study by AstrumU, an AI-powered data-driven platform that quantifies the return on investment of educational experiences. Less than one million students enrolled in college in 2021 compared with enrollment figures before the pandemic.
There has been a shrinking in enrollment equivalent to less than eight percent drop in undergraduate enrollment from 2010 to 2021. And there was a rise of over 83 percent in the number of organizations issuing industry and workforce credentials since the pandemic started.
Looking ahead, AstrumU projected a growth of over 1.6 percent in graduate enrollment through 2029, with 75 percent of college strategic plans currently prioritizing graduate or adult education.
AstrumU classifies prospective graduate students by five primary goals:
- Launch a career
- Switch careers
- Secure a promotion or salary bump
- Boost employee performance, engagement, and retention
- Move into a leadership role
In order to attract these students, colleges must plan on how to overcome the ROI gap. According to AstrumU:
- 65 percent of adults believe that college students are not getting the skills they will need in the workplace
- 55 percent of employees think graduates have the knowledge and skills to advance their role or career
- 74 percent of companies are increasing budgets to respond to the tight labor market
Boosting enrollment: Searching for new approaches
At a time when colleges have to decide on how to help students during the decision-making process, there are some things they could consider. To emphasize the payoffs of enrolling to your institution is a good place to start. Colleges may also choose to quantify the ROI on students’ education investment. Customizing each student’s projection and goals as well as automating calculations in order to facilitate self-led research can speed-up decision making.
These considerations can help prospective students and HR leaders analyze things such as identifying skills gap and what opportunities students may be overlooking in industries that need and value their skills.
Understanding the ROI dilemma leads higher education institutions to align their curriculum with the current job market and job market projections toward the future. This bridges the skills gap and also keeps up with the rapid pace of change and evolution of skills in-demand.
Institutions that understand the challenges can see the need to solve the ROI dilemma. In order to solve the dilemma, colleges need to flip the challenge into competing advantages.