With the economic crisis in full swing, the latest development impacting enrollment is "reverse transfers," students who move from 4-year institutions to 2-year institutions. According to Barbara Townsend, Director of the Center for Community College Research at the University of Missouri-Columbia, a third of all 2-year students previously attended a 4-year institution. And likewise, as noted in the Inside Higher Ed's article, The New Reverse Transfer, Cuyahoga Community College, Ohio's largest 2-year institution, had an 11 percent increase in the number of "reverse transfers" this spring compared to last.

This new trend poses several new challenges: from an institutional perspective, reverse transfers introduce yet another variable into the retention mix for 4-year schools, and from a student perspective, reverse transfers will undoubtedly need focused advising and orientation activities to assure their successful transition from a 4-year to a 2-year institution and (perhaps) back to a 4-year institution. As long as the economic climate deteriorates, 4-year students will continue to seek a more affordable 2-year option. This is certainly something to consider for the balance of 2009.

-Jeff Papa

The Call for Papers for the 2009 AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education is now available!!!!! Papers are due April 3rd and late ones won't be accepted. So, get on top of it now and submit a session proposal. 

The dates for the Symposium are Nov 15-18 and it will be held in Boston at the Copley Marriott.  See you there!

-Elizabeth Scarborough

Just in case you didn't see it this weekend, click on the video link below to see a reporter inquiry about UConn basketball coach Jim Calhoun's salary during a state budget crunch. I'm not going to get into the pros and cons of Coach Calhoun's salary (okay, I lied... it is a competitive market.  The free market hiring rules all colleges and universities use would have to change significantly should this be a priority.  But, coaches should have thick enough skin to respond to questions about their compensation and any return on investment to their athletic department), but I can tell you that budget scenarios are going to continue to make people's blood boil.

Make sure that the public faces of your institution are prepared to answer questions about their professional and personal budgets.  You can't limit the reporter's ability to ask compensation questions, so prepare your university officials' responses.

-Teresa Valerio Parrot

My friend, Steve Christensen, from Indiana Wesleyan University is the co-chair of the 2009 UCDA Design Summit coming up on March 26-28 in Milwaukee, WI. There are some great speakers slated to be there. And, I am not talking about me! Mary Stagaman, Assoc VP from University of Cincinnati is going to be there. If you haven't heard her story about branding, you need to!  You can click here to read up on it. I'm also excited to hear from Phil Belair who teaches courses on brand identity for Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design. Sign up today!

-Elizabeth Scarborough

I literally was posting my entry on the free NACUBO and AGB whitepaper when I received an email for a free webinar from ACE and NACUBO on Monday, February 23^rd on the "Campus Impact of Stimulus Legislation."

The online description of the webinar reads:

Join ACE President Molly Corbett Broad and Senior Vice President Terry Hartle for a review of key aspects of the new legislation and the anticipated effect on students, families, and colleges and universities.

PS--while you are on the ACE website, don't forget to subscribe for HENA updates!!

-Teresa Valerio Parrot

Yesterday I visited Patti Kunkle and Merrill Schwartz in Washington, DC; both are directors for the Association of Governing Boards.  While I was talking to them about spring offerings, Merrill mentioned the online resources available on the AGB website.  Today I was browsing the site and came across a timely whitepaper: "The Financial Downturn and Its Impact on Higher Education Institutions."  The paper represents a collaboration between AGB and NACUBO... and who has more to say about a down economy than the constituencies AGB and NACUBO represent--boards, presidents and CFOs?

Of particular interest to me were the questions that begin on page 9 of the paper; they are framed as discussion starters and critical questions for presidents and boards to review and discuss.  Their responses to the questions and resultant action steps frame an institution's short-term and long-term economic approach.

For my communications peers, the paper also includes some communications samples worth checking out.

-Teresa Valerio Parrot

CASE is hiring a new VP of Marketing, Membership, and External Relations. I feel like I know about 1,000 people who would be very interested in this job and completely qualified for it. So, I am posting it here instead of emailing you individually. Here is a link to the job posting.

-Elizabeth Scarborough

This article describes the big winners and little winners in the stimulus package. The big winners:

1.     Low-income students are going to get extra help with an increased Pell grant

2.     "Pipeline programs" like Head Start are getting increased funding, "a move that may help millions of future college students"

3.     States are getting big-time "budget stabilization" funds that will likely filter down to public universities

4.     A big chunk of money is going to job training programs, some of this will likely be directed to community colleges

5.     NIH is getting $8.5M and NSF is getting $3B (yes, that's a "B"), which means more money for innovative research

-Elizabeth Scarborough

This is going to sound very odd at first but bear with me. A goat-milk carton may actually be a good example of how to listen to your students. Ok, here's the deal: I saw this video on "Church of the Customer Blog" about Flying Goat Milk, and I just had to share it with you.  In the video, Jackie and Ben use a goat-milk carton (wait, don't click away yet) to illustrate why it's important to listen to your students. I told you this was odd, but here's what they say: "One thing you have to know about goat's milk is that the milk solids go to the bottom, and every time you drink it you've got to shake it up." But when Jackie shook the carton milk flew out all over her kitchen because the carton didn't have one of those fancy screw tops. When Jackie went back to supermarket, on one of her return visits, she noticed that carton now had a screw top, along with the words "Customer Requested" on the carton.

Jackie says, by adding these two words, "they are basically saying, hey we heard you." She also stressed the importance of not only providing ways for customers (or students) to contact your institution but to actively give them the tools to do so. The end result: we learn what students like and don't like--isn't that an important aspect of effective marketing?  As they said in the video, "Listening is a risk-free strategy overall...nothing can harm you by actively listening to what people are saying and feeding that back..."

-Jeff Papa

Give me a break! I honestly find this article on the U.S. News web site borderline offensive.  Bob Morse is citing data and suggesting that the rankings are NOT one of the most important factors influencing student choice. But, there is a major flaw in the data he is citing AND how he is interpreting it. I am actually surprised by the fact that he must be assuming no one is smart enough to catch this.

Morse cites data which identifies the extent to which a series of factors are percieved to be "very important" when selecting a college. He emphasizes the point that the rankings appear 11th on the list. But, topping the list (of course) is "college has a very good academic reputation." What do you think drives "academic reputation?" THAT is the survey question that should have followed this one. "What factors have the most impact on your impression of the academic quality of a school." I will bet anyone $100 if they can show me data that answers this question and does NOT have the rankings in the top 4. Seriously, I am good for the $100.

We survey college-bound students and their parents all the time. I know for a fact that rankings have a stronghold on quality perceptions. Just yesterday, I was on campus at one of our nation's largest universities presenting the findings of a national study of college-bound students to the board of trustees. We tested the impact of 20 different marketing messages with this group. The three messages that had the most impact on quality perceptions? You got it....they were ALL rankings-related. We see this over and over and over again.

I have no idea how Bob can be comfortable sharing this data and intepreting as he has done in this article. You can show all the flawed data you want, U.S. News, but we all know the truth. The rankings hinder (rather than help) students and parents make good decisions about where to go to college. They perpetuate a negative, socially-climbing, competitive attitude toward college admission and are really only important to U.S. News because they sell boatloads of magazines.

-Elizabeth Scarborough 

Here are some more higher-ed articles to take you into the weekend. Happy reading!

http://chronicle.com/media/audio/v55/i24/martin/ - This is an audio file by Carolyn A. (Biddy) Martin, the new chancellor of the University of Wisconsin at Madison, describing how she navigated a series of public forums on the university's financial situation.

http://chronicle.com/review/brainstorm/index.php?id=1177 - This article is discusses what budget cuts at Dartmouth and the University of Connecticut tell us about budget cut trends.

http://chronicle.com/review/brainstorm/index.php?id=1178 - This article provides an overview of the plan to reform the University of the District of Columbia. This article also includes a link to a report on how colleges can improve graduate rates without sacrificing academic standards.

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/02/13/stimulus - This article provides details about composition of the economic stimulus bill crafted by Congress. This also provides links to the bill text.

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/02/13/data - This article discuss the  idea of creating a national database to track the flow of students through the American educational system.

http://diverseeducation.com/artman/publish/article_12287.shtml - This article is about the big winners and the smaller winners of Congress' stimulus bill.

http://diverseeducation.com/artman/publish/article_12285.shtml - This article discusses how, for many educators, large numbers of graduates are not only a bragging right but a goal, but those involved in the Asian American Studies Program at the University of Massachusetts Boston are comfortable producing only one or two graduates annually.

http://www.charleston.net/news/2009/feb/13/few_women_on_colleges_boards71582/ - This article describes how the percentage of women attending college nationally has increased dramatically in recent decades, but their representation on the schools' governing boards has crept up much slower.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2009-02-12-early-admissions_N.htm - This article is about new research that offers an argument for why high school students should avoid college early-admissions because they may be more likely to regret their decision later in life.

http://ednews.org/articles/33820/1/College-is-the-right-choice-for-your-children-ads-insist/Page1.html - This article is an overview of how the advocacy body that represents Ontario's 24 community colleges is spending $2.5 million over the next two months to convince parents that college, not university, might be the best place for their graduating teenager.

I just began working at SimpsonScarborough 4 months ago and really needed to catch-up and immerse myself into the higher education industry. So, I've been poking around the Internet looking for interesting articles related to anything and everything higher-ed. Check these articles out and happy reading!

p.s. Let me know if you've run into anything you think would help me out!  

http://chronicle.com/news/article/5915/obama-picks-veteran-education-advocate-to-head-office-for-civil-rights - This article is about President Obama's plans to nominate Russlynn Ali, who has held several positions with education advocacy groups, as the Education Department's assistant secretary for civil rights.

http://chronicle.com/news/article/5914/no-frills-campus-in-new-hampshire-saves-students-tens-of-thousands-of-dollars - This article describes how Pennsylvania's State Board of Education proposed to create a "no frills" four-year that would offer a cut-rate bachelor's degree by focusing on instruction and skipping amenities, like sports teams and posh dorms, that run up tuition bills.

http://chronicle.com/news/article/5907/arne-duncan-says-spending-money-on-education-is-best-cure-for-economy - This article is about how Education Secretary Arne Duncan says spending money on education is the best cure for the economy.

http://chronicle.com/news/article/5904/states-must-meet-bar-for-higher-education-spending-to-get-some-funds-in-stimulus-bill - This article explains how states would have to meet a minimum bar for spending on higher education in order to benefit from money set aside in the economic-stimulus legislation.

http://www.ajc.com/services/content/printedition/2009/02/03/highered0203.html - This article describes how the economic stimulus package could provide more money for tuition for Georgia students

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/02/05/tennessee - This is an overview on how leaders in Tennessee and Maine have taken differing approaches to transforming university systems, highlighting the importance of building alliances early in the process.

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/02/04/tuition - This article discusses a new poll that offers evidence that much as people view higher education as increasingly essential, public concern about the price of college and access to higher education for lower-income Americans is accelerating rapidly

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/01/30/chea - This article is about an international seminar (hosted by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation) drew participants from around the world to discuss challenges in regulating diverse higher education systems (and weeding out illegitimate players wherever they set up shop).

http://www.universitybusiness.com/newssummary.aspx?news=yes&postid=18127 - This article explains how two-year schools are reporting unprecedented enrollment increases this semester.

http://www.universitybusiness.com/newssummary.aspx?news=yes&postid=17736 - This article is an overview of how Senator Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) wants to close the gap between the level of appropriations given to Native American colleges and other minority institutions.

http://www.universitybusiness.com/viewarticle.aspx?articleid=1193 - This article is about enrollment capacity and how the answer to this question has a big impact on how the institution should be thinking about its financial aid budget.  

http://www.economist.com/research/articlesBySubject/displaystory.cfm?subjectid=2133650&story_id=12944182 - This article is about how universities are going all out to lure international students.

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/02/09/gee - This article explains why Gordon Gee said that the choice for higher education is reinvention or extinction. 

After plenty of postings with gloom and doom, I'm happy to share a little bit of good news from The New York Times.  And by a little bit I mean $83 billion worth of good news.  The latest discussions on the Senate's version of the economic stimulus bill included a total of $27 billon in Pell Grant dollars, and $80 billion in "emergency spending for public schools and state universities."  Let's see what tomorrow brings...

- Teresa Valerio Parrot

I read with interest the article last week in the Boston Globe, which talked about the Southern New Hampshire Univeristy's new Salem campus, a satellite campus that is being described as a "no frills campus."  As a word-person, I was intrigued by the terms being used to describe the branch campus and its programmatic offerings.  SNHU is describing value without using the often-stigmatized phrase "commuter campus."

The language of "value" is resonating with students.  As proof, today the AP ran a story about record enrollments for community college campuses.  Here is how the AP breaks down the economic benefits of fewer frills (my phrase) at a community college:

Nationwide, the average annual cost of community college is $2,402, compared to $6585 in tuition and fees at in-state public four-year schools, according to the College Board.  Averaging tuition and fees for private four-year schools: $25,143. 

Factoring in financial aid, the College Board estimates the average net cost at community colleges is only about $100.

What are the down sides to a "no frills" or reduced frills educational experience?  A parent interviewed in the Boston Globe story summarize the negatives well: "By being with other students and listening to the way they handle projects and even problems in life, you learn a great deal," Teri Gambardella said. "That's what they're missing right now. They just leave at the end of the day and go home."

This is the year's most critical season in higher education--the time between student acceptance and student deposits.  What language are you using to describe the value of your education and how does that experience compare to your "no frills" competitors?

- Teresa Valerio Parrot

Scott Jaschik, of Inside Higher Ed, wrote a great review of Gordon Gee's talk last night at the ACE annual meeting. Apparently Gee, President of Ohio State, called on high-ed to think completely differently about our situation, our role, and our future. Some of my favorite points/quotes are:

1.     "I am calling for intentional upheaval at our colleges and universities"

2.     The choice for higher education is "reinvention or extinction"

3.     Higher education must resist the "first instinct" [in a recession], "to hunker down, hide out, take refuge in the fox hole and wait for the storm to pass"

4.     Ohio State recently appointed a Dean to its business school that is not an "academic," she has 30 years of health care experience but has never taught and does not have a doctorate

5.     Our colleges are "tradition-bound," but are uniquely suited to help the country rise out of this economic mess

I, for one, am eager to see Gee's vision for high-ed become a reality.

-Elizabeth Scarborough

SimpsonScarborough discussed with Andrew Flagel, Dean of Admissions and Associate Vice President for Enrollment Development for George Mason University, the pricing study SimpsonScarborough recently conducted for his institution.

Q. Why did you decide to study George Mason University's price elasticity? 

A. Mason has enjoyed a steady surge in popularity, with extraordinary growth in our out-of-state markets.  As with most institutions we are under increasing financial pressure, but while we had a fair amount of insight on in-state students, we had conflicting data on price and cost related to our out-of-state students. Most of our overlap was with other D.C. area schools, where tuition was FAR higher than ours.  At the same time many, if not most, of our applicants indicated that they were also strongly considering far less expensive options closer to their homes, generally their state's flagship institutions.  As a result, more often than not we were the middle cost of the three top choices, both for the students we were enrolling and those we weren't.  To build our budget models we needed a better idea of how price (including discounted price) related to enrollment patterns.

Q.  Why did you choose SimpsonScarborough to conduct the study? 

A. Two reasons, cost and scope of project.  Many of the companies we reviewed wanted massive investments of funds, several in excess of anything we were likely gain in revenue from even optimistic projections.  Others wanted comprehensive long-term contracts, which was problematic since we had no experience with those companies on which to base a multi-year contract, and the degree to which we would be able to impact our financial aid formulas, given our historically low level of institutional discounting, wasn't large enough to require the kind of longitudinal experimentation they were used to exploring.  SimpsonScarborough offered a statistical approach that was very attractive for its flexibility in use for our planning process.

Q. Who were the major beneficiaries of the resulting data once the study was complete? 

A. The data were most helpful to our institutional planning team, but also very well received by our governing board who was wrestling with issues of price, discount, and access.

Q. How have you used the findings?

A. Based on the study, SimpsonScarborough developed a simulator which allowed us to see the effect of a range of institutional decisions on price and discounting.  While there is no way to know what might have happened otherwise, Mason chose the optimal model, which included a larger tuition increase with commensurate discount, and our yield patterns closely tracked the model that suggested increased yield in that scenario.  Of course, it remains to be seen how that pattern will hold in the new economic reality, and the subject certainly bears further study.  It is safe to say, however, that the model gave our planning committee and our board the data needed to approve the testing of a more aggressive tuition and discount model than our institution had taken at any time in its history. 

Andrew Flagel is the Dean of Admissions and Associate Vice President for Enrollment Development for George Mason University, where he also teaches in the Department of Communication.  He has presented hundreds of seminars on the college admissions process to students across the country, has been a featured speaker at the Presidential Youth Inaugural Conference as well as the Washington Journalism Conference, has been a featured guest on C-Span's Washington Journal, and his quotes have appeared in recent educational stories in Newsweek, US News and World Report, The Washington Post, and even Teen Vogue.

Dean Flagel serves on the Advisory Board for the National Young Leaders Conference and the Executive Council of the Virginia ACT Advisory Committee as the Virginia representative to the ACT national assembly.  He also served on the Seal of Approval Committee for the National Association for College Admissions Counseling and spent three years as their national membership chairman.  Along with speaking on the college admissions process, Dean Flagel regularly offers presentations on communication styles for "millenials" as well as motivational speeches. 

Be sure to check out Dean Flagel's blog  and his column on Monster Worldwide's admissions.com.

- Renee Kart

Just when we thought our current challenges in higher education couldn't get any tougher along came the 2009 Squeeze Play findings......

Based on phone interviews with a random, national sample of 1,009 adults (aged 18 and over), a solid majority of the respondents (55%) consider a college degree a necessity to be successful in today's world. That's the good news. I wish I could stop there, but the vast majority of people (67%) believe that students (1) who are qualified to go to college do not have the opportunity to do so and (2) have to borrow too much money to pay for their college education.

As the report indicates, "At a moment when college is more frequently perceived as absolutely essential, more Americans think that a college education is out of reach for many." Those of us in higher education MUST address these warning signs and strive to improve our overall public image. Sorry to be such a downer; my next entry will be more upbeat, I hope.

-Jeff Papa