"In a moment of rising enrollment volatility, shifting global dynamics and accelerating technological change, this question cuts to the heart of what universities must become. For decades, higher education has centered its marketing and enrollment strategy around discrete, program-level recruitment pipelines: find prospective students, convert them into a program and repeat the cycle for the next cohort. But today's learners don't behave in discrete cycles. Their lives aren't structured around one big decision. They move fluidly across roles, industries and learning needs."
"Rather than thinking transactionally-acquiring each enrollment anew-we can build relationships that honor a simple premise: If we provide value consistently, learners will keep choosing us. This is about rewriting the social contract. Not only with current students, but with alumni, midcareer professionals, online learners and the millions of individuals who may engage with us long before (or long after) a degree is on the table."
In an era of enrollment volatility, shifting global dynamics, and accelerating technological change, universities must move beyond discrete, program-level recruitment models. Learners progress in fits and starts, move across roles and industries, and return repeatedly for upskilling or reskilling. Institutions can cultivate lifelong relationships by delivering consistent value across the learner lifecycle to alumni, midcareer professionals, online learners, and prospective individuals. Rewriting the social contract requires clear, welcoming pathways that start with short or noncredit experiences, allow credential stacking, and invite learners back to pursue further credentials and career advancement.
Read at Inside Higher Ed | Higher Education News, Events and Jobs
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