As a kid, did you ever play thegame of “Life”? We remember alwayschoosing the college route over gettinga job right out of high school. Everythingwe’d learned from popular culturemeant that we just knew college wouldpay off in the long run. Surely therewould be a high paying job, fat stockmarket holdings, mansions, and 2.5 kidsin the back seat of our insured, luxurycars. Well, it didn’t always work outthat way in the board game; and nowthe very value of a college education isplaying out in the court of public opinionand through government interventions.

Here in the real world, there arequestions being posed about the value

of an investment in college; how con-sumers want to experience the collegesearch process; how the future workenvironment should be considered; andwhat needs to change for educatorsand admission offices to stay relevant.

Is College Worth It?It’s interesting to note that the con-

cept of higher education was originallybased on Jeffersonian principlesincluding access for all and the im-portance of educational options.Jefferson believed higher educationshould be available for all who wantthe experience and a variety of edu-cational options was essential to drivequality through competition.

In 1932, James Truslow Adams, whoedited the book Jeffersonian Principlesand Hamiltonian Principles, wrote abouthow Jefferson would have viewedAmerica’s system of education today:

“Public education had beencarried to a height almostundreamed of by him, yet hewould realize that its results havebeen disappointing. He wouldobserve that schools and collegesmay make people literate butcannot make them learned orwise, and that the mass of the

It’s Your Turn to Spin –Recruitment &Admissions in 2014Dr. Andrew Beedle, Chief Digital Strategist & Dr. Jean Norris, Managing Partner Norton|Norris, Inc.

Admissions Sales

DR. ANDREW BEEDLEis the Chief DigitalStrategist at Norton|Norris, Inc.

Consulting since1998, Andy has helpedhundreds of institutionsdevelop meaningful andeffective marketing cam-paigns to new students.Andy was a professor ofPhilosophy and Cognitive

Science at the University of Connecticut, TrinityCollege, and Grand Valley State University. He is an avid foodie, cyclist, sailor, and military

history enthusiast. He makes his home in the BlueRidge Mountains of Virginia.

people whom he would have educated withsuch care for the purpose of making themcitizens preferred reams of the headline-tabloid press and sensational movies to anyfive minutes of genuine consecutivethought.” (Stepman, J. & Feltscher, I)

It makes one wonder what he would havethought about the educational system today. Theaddition of measuring the value of a college ex-perience based on a financial return on investmentlaid out in Gainful Employment Regulationsis a stark contrast to the Jeffersonian ideal. Pre-paring graduates for lives as active and educatedcitizens contrasts sharply with equipping studentsfor the job market.

The regulations are also very selective. Onlycertain types of programs and schools fall undertheir mandate. While those in the for-profit edu-cation sector are well aware of the proximatereasons for these new regs and “tough” attitudeon the part of regulators, the trend towardsmeasuring the value of a college education infinancial terms has a much deeper and morepervasive history. And there are a number ofrecent social and technological developmentsdriving that trend.

The Power of the ConsumerFirst some background on the huge changes

in both consumer behavior and the availabilityof information about college and career options

since the 1990’s. Once upon a time, prospectivestudents had to write letters or fill out postcardsrequesting information from any college theywere considering. In this world, the number ofchoices was limited to those schools with alocal presence, that appeared on a list providedby a guidance counselor, or that had been

mentioned by friends or other influencers (thinkfamily members, neighbors, a pastor, etc.)

This model (and the technological limitationsthat came along with it) allowed college admissionsand marketing offices to act as information gate-keepers. Their brochures and communicationsassets told the entire story available about aschool outside of hearsay. The psychologicalinvestment required to make the initial inquirymeant that prospects were pre-disposed to takewhat they received from a school at face value.It also predisposed them to limit the number ofschools initially included in the search process.

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DR. JEAN NORRIS began her educationalpursuit in a 10-month medical assistingdiploma pro-gram, Jean went on to earn adoctoral degree in organizationalleadership. Her love of higher edu-cationturned into a 26 year career in which shehas served in the role of admissions rep,dean of admissions, faculty member, deanof admissions, vice president of marketing,vice president of enrollment, and vice

president of organizational development at private schools,colleges and universities. Currently Jean is a managing partner atNorton|Norris, Inc., a Chicago-based marketing/consulting/training firm focused exclusively in the higher education sector. Dr. Norris is the developer of EnrollMatch® – The Ethical

Enrollment Process, a comprehensive admissions trainingprogram offering proven results to balance compliance andperformance. Jean is also a Licensed Master NeurolinguisticProgramming Practitioner.Norton|Norris, Inc. (Nn) is a full-service marketing, training

and consulting firm dedicated to the education vertical. Foundedin 1998, Nn provides innovative approaches to all facets of

enrollment including direct mail (Print on Demand), creativeservices, radio/television production and placement, high schoolpresentations, mystery shopping, eLearning, public relations,vendor management, digital media, and training - featuringEnrollMatch® – The Ethical Enrollment Process. Perhaps Norton|Norris is most well known and respected for

taking the lead and responding to the negative attacks on the for-profit college sector led by the Government Accountability Office(GAO). Nn authored two reports, Mystery Shopping RevealsImportant Information Withheld from Prospective Students and GAOBias Evident in Report to HELP Committee that significantlystrengthened the position of the career college sector.

Contact Information:Dr. Jean Norris, Managing PartnerNorton | Norris, Inc.55 E. Jackson Blvd., Suite 950Chicago, IL 60604Office: 312-262-7400Direct: 312-262-7402Email: jean@nortonnorris.comWebsite: www.nortonnorris.com

The disruptive effect of eliminatinggeography as the determining factorin the awareness of an institution cameat the cost of radically expanding theuniverse of viable options for prospects… and drastically reducing the initialinvestment required to initiate arelationship with a college.

Beginning in the mid-1980’s, third party CollegeGuides and rankings (think of the feared andhallowed US News rankings) became more widelyavailable. In addition, the advent of the WorldWide Web and email created both new mediachannels as well as larger audiences. If theeffective radius of awareness of a “local” collegewas it’s geographic market in 1980, by 1995 thatradius was limited only by how much awareness

they could drive to their website. And that websitewas available to anyone with an Internet connectionregardless of where they were on a map.

As colleges began taking advantage of thisfreedom from the limitations of geography bysetting up informative, marketing driven websites, they also gave up the gatekeeping powerthat came with the old “request info” model. Inessence, a college’s website became it brochure/viewbook and was available 24/7 to anyone whostumbled across it.

This meant that, not only did schools nolonger know who had “inquired” (becausethey could not track and identify individualwebsite visitors like they could individualpostcard “fillerouters”), they also lost thepsychological advantage of “investment” onthe part of prospects that was at the heartof the old model. The disruptive effect ofeliminating geography as the determiningfactor in the awareness of an institutioncame at the cost of radically expanding theuniverse of viable options for prospects…and drastically reducing the initial invest-ment required to initiate a relationship witha college. If you can find any info you wantwith the click of a mouse button – and youcan find any number of third party sources ofinfo in the bargain – then your investment in anyparticular information request is really quitelow. The cost to the prospect in time, attention,

and effort is so low that it reduces the emotionalattachment to any one college until deep intothe decision making cycle.

In addition, the number of channels availableto marketers of all stripes has expanded quickly.Websites, email marketing (both as initial contactand for ongoing communications plans), socialmedia networks, low-cost call centers, and on-demand lead vending/generation have all madeit possible to communicate with prospectivestudents at a low cost and asynchronously.

The cost comparison between sending anemail to 40,000 prospects in a school’s databaseversus sending a postcard to those same 40,000prospects hardly bears pointing out. (This doesnot imply that the email is more effective thanthe postcard.) In a world where communicationoptions are relatively cheap and can be executedon very rapid turnaround times, it becomes easyto simply increase the volume of outbound wordsand pictures in the hopes that some (or enough)of it “sticks”.

As the number of channels has increased, sohas the number of methods people use to accessthose channels. Desktop computers, laptops,tablets, and smartphones have all made it possiblefor marketing channels to become ubiquitousfeatures of every day life. But more important –the percentage of the population having accessto these devices has skyrocketed. The increasein computer ownership alone between 2000 and2008 is startling in its implications.

The percentage of computer ownership in thegeneral population has almost doubled as priceshave decreased and processing power hasincreased.

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The net effect of these trends is tomake prospects ever more accessibleto college marketers by virtue oftechnology adoption and low costs.This rush into the digital landscapeleads to an increase in the amount of“noise” that prospects experience.

In addition, the fastest overall growth incomputer ownership has taken place in older“late adopter” demographics as the deviceshave become easier to use.

Finally (and of most interest to the careercollege market), those Americans with the leastamount of formal education have experiencedthe most rapid growth of computer adoption.

The net effect of these trends is to make pro-spects ever more accessible to college marketersby virtue of technology adoption and low costs.This rush into the digital landscape leads to anincrease in the amount of “noise” that prospectsexperience. When prospects inquire at an ever-increasing number of schools – and those schoolsin turn bombard them with more and morecommunications, the raw amount of informationprospects see becomes overwhelming.

This set of trends created a perfect environ-ment for the kinds of abuses and poor practices

that have placed for-profits under increasedfederal scrutiny and public scorn. Quotadriven admissions offices given access tocheap, push-button access to prospect’svoicemail and inboxes, creates a situationwhere there will inevitably be an increasein consumer complaints. And the tendencyof information to spread rapidly and beavailable for years means that the actionsof a few dishonest agents can taint theperception of the entire sector morepowerfully than could happen wheninformation was doled out by gatekeepersand relatively hard to come by.

The explosive expansion of ecommerce roundsout the profile of today’s college “consumer”. Justtake a look at the sales stats on Cyber Monday.

Online spending was up 18 percent versus ayear ago ($1.735 billion in online spend-ing), representing the “heaviest onlinespending day in history” (ComScore, 2013).24-hour availability of information as wellas trans-action capability (ordering fromAmazon, checking your bank balance, etc.)has created the expectation that the con-sumer/prospect drives the process.

They want answers when the questionoccurs to them – not tomorrow or the nextday. And they want online tools that willallow them to weigh options, complete“paperwork”, and apply for admission.Colleges who look to control this process

need to present an extremely compelling reasonfor doing so if they are to avoid irritating theirpotential students.

Finally, even as colleges have begun to adaptto the changes wrought by the personal com-puter and the 24/7 Internet, the landscape haschanged again with the growth of tablet andmobile devices. The most recent Gartner surveyof worldwide device shipments predicts that2014 will see the combined number of monthlytablets and “ultramobile” devices (like the newChromebook) will surpass that of desktops.Mobile phones (smart or otherwise) alreadydwarf both desktop and tablet sales combinedby a factor of three (Gartner, 2013).

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The Changing Landscape of WorkA brief look at the Bureau of Labor Statistics

(BLS) projections for the fastest growing jobfields by 2018 is instructive. Here are 22 of thetop 30 fields that the BLS lists as having thehighest growth. (Note: duplicative entries havebeen eliminated).

• Fitness Trainers• Occupational Therapists Assistants & Aides• Environmental Engineering • Technicians• Personal Financial Advisors• Physical Therapists• Software Engineers• Pharmacy Technicians• Environmental Engineers• Compliance Officers• Physical Therapists Assistants & Aides• Medical Assistants• Dental Assistants• Veterinary Techs and Assistants• Dental Hygienists• Athletic Trainers• Biochemists/physicists• Skin Care Specialists• Medical Researchers• Personal & Home Care Aides

It’s interesting to note the complete lack offields like Art Historian, English Teacher, Attorney,or Business Administrator. Instead, we see a listpopulated with fields that require both a highlyspecialized set of skills and have a significantregulatory framework governing their practice.The traditional world of college is simply unsuitedto prepare students to work in these fields whilethe old manufacturing model of apprenticeshipdoesn’t suit the small size of most businesses inthese fields either.

Career colleges have stepped in to addressthe need for effective instruction in these areas– and have also concentrated on providing accessto traditionally underserved populations. In doingso, they have been forced to wrestle with the pro-blems inherent in an information based instruction-al model and have begun exploring more effective,competency based models that can effectivelyaddress the need for quality training.

The rapid growth of technological change isalso leading to competency-based learning. Likeit or not, we are now living in a post-literate world.YouTube is the third largest search engine onearth (and will soon be number two), whichmeans that a tremendous amount of the contentbeing consumed by web surfers is in the form ofsound and video rather than written words.

Career colleges have a unique opportunity inthis environment because they tend to be morenimble in terms of program design changes andbecause they are already focused on areas ofstudy with high skill components rather thanknowledge mastery components. Most non-profits are entrenched in a model of educationperfected during the renaissance and aimed at

upper class/upper middle class students. Lots ofreading, writing and discussion about a verybroad range of topics combined with more orless rigorous memorization of whatever body offacts and ideas is relevant to the class at hand.While the traditional “Liberal Arts” methodologyhas served well for a long time, the growth oflargely skill-specific careers means that programsdevoted to focused, rapid training of those skillscan gain an advantage.

Career colleges are at the forefront of newmodels and increased access. Here are some keyelements in the most successful career collegemodels out there.Increasing focus on outcomes based

programs/education. No one goes to a careercollege because they think it would be neat tomajor in being a Pharmacy Technician. Theyembark on that program of study because theywant a job. This trend towards “getting a job” asthe logical outcome of the college experiencehas been encouraged both by the economy (seethe list of fast growing professions above andcompare to current unemployment figures) aswell as the entire post-secondary education

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The rapid growth of technologicalchange is also leading to competency-based learning. Like it or not, we arenow living in a post-literate world.

market’s dogged determination to equate collegeattendance with the attainment of the AmericanDream. Given that the vast majority of collegestudents will need to have some kind of employ-ment (in order to pay for housing, food, andstudent loans) the notion that employment is alogical and desired outcome of education makesenormous amounts of sense. We see the problemwith the new Federal Gainful Employment re-quirements to lie in the fact that they are soselective and do not go far enough! Why shouldn’tall colleges, regardless of their profit/non-profitstatus be held to the same litmus test if they areto take taxpayer dollars of any kind?Intern/externships and active partnerships

with companies and organizations. The mostsuccessful career college models concentrateheavily on partnerships with potential employersand intern/extern opportunities for students.The culinary school framework has used thismodel for years as young chefs graduate toexternship positions in real restaurants. Thoseschools who make real-world work experiencepart of the curriculum will benefit not only interms of perceived value to students (and betteremployment numbers), but will also have anactive laboratory of students and employersproviding feedback on which skill progressionsare the most effective.Competency based learning over Information

based learning. The traditional model of education(read “Medieval” if you like) amounts to thenotion that mastery of a discipline = a layeredstructure of knowledge in a field. In this model,knowledge is broken down into principles andfacts and delivered in a progression of increasingcomplexity. Sometimes technique (lab) and skills(writing – a soft skill) are promoted, but not byand large.

Competency based education is suited to thetechnical fields that career colleges focus on – alayered set of actual skills that are essential tothe understanding of a field and the performanceof a job. If you are a digital animator, you have awork product to produce using particulartechniques and tools. Technical fields are the“new manufacturing” – and can be taught outsideof an apprenticeship model, providing workers

to business who cannot afford lengthy ramp-uptimes. These fields also have a tendency to fallunder very specific (and often rapidly changing)regulatory structures. In effect, the potentialliability associated with a skills-based career isquite a bit higher than one that is purely infor-mation based. Few, if any, bloggers get suedfor malpractice.

How Can Schools Stand Out in this New World?Create distinction. As always, having a

strong and emotionally powerful marketingmessage is the key to both attracting interestand qualifying potential leads. The challenge liesin making sure that message passes regulatorymuster and can be backed up by fact-based dataabout outcomes. Most of the prospects consider-ing career education and the unique opportunitiesit provides (see below) are passionately interestedin jobs with some degree of security and a pathfor advancement. Demonstrating a powerfulacademic program, unique instructional orexperiential opportunities, and a solid trackrecord of placement should be the core concerns ofany for-profit (or in our opinion non-profit) college.Target spending and drive changes based

on rigorously collected data. The ease ofgathering data on prospect/applicant behaviorand characteristics is a double-edged sword. Lotsof data and charts means lots of information…and also means lots of time spent poring overthe information… and lots of effort put intounderstanding the information… just in time forthe next wave of reports to arrive. Be sure to usethe ever increasing (and ever more awesome) setof data gathering tools – reports from studentinformation systems, keyword data from PPCcampaigns, inbound links and searches fromwebmaster tools at Google and Yahoo – to guideactual decisions rather than serve as meetingagenda items. Don’t be afraid to bet on yourwinners and either put your losers into triage orout to pasture.Understand the admissions officer’s role

as advisor. There are very few trusted advisorsand a heck of a lot of info-bombers/lead churners.Become an advisor who can genuinely connectto student interests and needs. The crucial

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element in your forward facing marketing work(before the prospect ever sits down one-on-onewith one of your reps) is to convey that theinstitution and the prospect are both best servedif and only if the fit is right. Position your schoolin all of your marketing materials as a place thatcares more about doing the right thing for studentsthan it does about “putting butts in seats”. Thisalone will help forward thinking schools standout from the sea of noise that assaults today’sprospective students.

For most people who have spent any time at allin admissions, it’s no secret that the recruitmentmodels are outdated. Admission representativesstruggle to even get in contact with an inquiryand when they do, they resort to the old standard– come on campus for an interview. And thenthey wonder why the prospective students don’tshow up. While there is comfort in generating acopious bank of inquiries to make up for all thespillage pouring out the sides of the enrollmentfunnel, inquiries are not new students. And thereis more we can do.

While the career college sector has been busydeflecting the blows of increased federal scrutinyand fighting for their existence against decliningmarket perception, an opportunity has unveileditself. High school students do not currentlyhave the resources they need to make an informeddecision about college choice. According to theAmerican Counseling Association, the averagestudent to school counselor ratio is recommendedto be 250:1. In reality, the average stands at451:1 with some states over 800:1 (California isover 1,000:1).

Think about it. The students needing the mostguidance have the least resources to exploreoptions related to what careers exist and whatoptions are out there. Could this be one of thereasons students are underprepared?

Another key audience is that of the adult studentwho was never college material or has been outof school for a long time. Don’t they need guidancemore than ever? And couldn’t the admissionsrepresentative of the past become the guidancecoach they need now?

The bar to certification as a guidance counseloris quite high – generally involving a master’s

degree in school counseling and various additionalcertifications. That said, there are key skill setsthat can be taught to and admissions represen-tative to improve the interaction with prospectivestudents and make it more meaningful. We don’tall have to be guidance counselors to adopt a model

of admissions communication that offers more andbetter counseling on the best college options.

Develop quality content and make sure yourbasic Internet bases are covered.Many schoolshave a hard time keeping up with the basic blockingand tackling type work that comes with having aconsistent and well-established presence on theInternet. An exhaustive list of what needs tohappen in this arena is beyond the scope of thisarticle, but good places to start are accurate andupdated Google+ and Yahoo directory listings,regular review of the accuracy of the informationincluded in the school’s top inbound links, accurateand complete Facebook and LinkedIn profiles,and search friendly web pages. In addition, schoolswould do well to develop content that is bothauthoritative and meaningful to prospects.Remember, would-be students want to know whya particular program is for them and want tounderstand that program in the context of thefuture opportunities it can bring them. They alsowant to better understand what they are gettinginto and how your school is different (and better)than other options. Make sure your web copy(or video assets) address these problems ratherthan just providing “keyword rich” bulleted listsof program features.

ConclusionCollege admissions and marketing staffs have

unprecedented access to an ever growingprospective student population. The explosivegrowth of technology has created an expanded

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Remember, would-be students wantto know why a particular program isfor them and want to understand thatprogram in the context of the futureopportunities it can bring them.

toolset for communicating with students. Butthis very growth has also made it impossible foradmissions offices to control how and whereprospects get information while at the sametime making prospects ever more sophisticatedshoppers. Add to this mix a new found intereston the part of federal regulators to “measure” thevalue of a college program based on the employ-ment of its graduates and you have a volatilemarket fraught with uncertainty.

But in every challenge and crisis lies oppor-tunity. There are, in essence, two competingmodels of higher education in the U.S.. The oldinformation based model aimed at helpingstudents master a body of knowledge relevant toa field and the newly evolved competency basedmodel aimed that helping students master anincreasingly complex series of skills. Yet thisdistinction between program types and theirsuitability are often lost for a particular studentbecause of the severe shortage of guidanceprofessionals available.

Colleges who are willing and able to create arecruiting strategy based on powerful messagingand a consultative/guidance based model ofbuilding relationships in the admissions processwill ultimately win both student approval and theregulatory war being waged against them.

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Sources

ComScore (December 3, 2013). Cyber Monday Jumps18 Percent to $1.735 Billion in Desktop Sales to Rankas Heaviest U.S. Online Spending Day in History

Gartner’s “Forecast: Devices by Operating System andUser Type, Worldwide, 2010-2017, 2Q13 Update.”

Thomas Jefferson and School Choice (Stepman, J. andFeltscher, I.). American Thinker, April 14, 2013.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics