2012: A Year in Review

2012 was a year of great change for the higher education industry. From the explosion of online education to the innovation of credentials and certifications, these shifts will have a lasting impact on the future of the profession. Take a look at the articles and interviews published below to reflect back on the year that was.

The Value of Adult Students in Higher Education

Universities and Continuing Industry Education: Making an Impact is Key (Paul Marca | Executive Director of the Stanford Center for Professional Development, Stanford University)

If a higher education institution decides to deliver industry education, it should be for the opportunity to be recognized as industry experts and the chance to influence day-to-day operations of businesses. Increasing revenue should be an afterthought and often will not happen in the short term.

Adult Student Retention: Important To Your Institution’s Bottom Line (Andrée Robinson-Neal | AESS – Special Projects, Azusa Pacific University)

Adult students have particular demands which affect their learning. To be successful, their college or university must understand and accommodate those specific needs

Five Statistical Reasons Why You Should Compete for Adult Students (EvoLLLution NewsWire)

Given the growth of the adult student population base, the reduction in state funding for higher education and the national emphasis on increasing the number of credential-holders, it is imperative that higher education institution begin making greater efforts to enroll and serve adult learners.

Marketing Higher Education to Adult Students

Top Five Ways to Market Higher Education to Adult Students (Craig Maslowsky | Vice President of Enrollment Management and Marketing, Excelsior College)

Successfully marketing to adult students requires a college or university to go beyond simply having resources available. Those resources must be optimized to enhance the student’s experience, and designed in such a way that they felt understood.

How Does Your Book Cover Look? Creating Successful First Impressions for Adult Students ()

It is important to ensure adult students understand the challenges they will be facing during their educational experience, but also that their institution has systems support them, in order to improve the chances at retaining that student until graduation.

AUDIO | The Value of a Data-Driven Marketing Strategy ()

By implementing robust mechanisms to determine which marketing activities are having the most success, higher education institutions can save money by focusing resources on high-return strategies.

Corporate Training and Higher Education

Reusable Customized Programming a Recipe to Riches ()

Reusing customized programs for other similar businesses and for open-enrollment courses can be a recipe to riches for higher education institutions.

Enhance Engagement and Reduce Turnover with Tuition Assistance ()

Providing employees with support to complete ongoing higher education allows employees to improve their abilities and provides the employer a competitive advantage over competitors.

AUDIO | Higher Education Must Create Links With Industries ()

To better meet the needs of working professionals, higher education institutions must form closer bonds with industries and businesses and translate those relationships into developing in-demand programming.

Designing Adult-Friendly Programming

Developing Learner-Centered Practices for Non-Traditional Higher Education (Elsa Núñez | President, Eastern Connecticut State University)

By making a greater amount of financial resources available to adult students, in addition to developing more flexible schedules that reflect the needs of adult students, the door would be open to a far greater number of adult students whose experience and wisdom typically enriches the experience of the rest of the class.

Five Ways to Make an Academic Program Adult-Friendly (Deborah Bushway | Vice President of Academic Innovation, Capella University)

A program designed with adult learners in mind will help older students succeed in higher education.

Flexible Programs Assist Adult Learners to Thrive (Andrés Fortino | Partner, Paradigm Research International)

Spatial, electronic and pedagogical flexibility are vital elements to a system geared toward adult student success.

Creating a Better Experience for Adult Students

Public Universities Not Suited For Non-Traditional Students ()

Public universities and community colleges are not suited to the needs of adult students, especially considering scheduling needs and teacher-student ratios.

AUDIO | Making Higher Education More Accessible and Affordable for Adults ()

Adult students are making their presence felt in today’s higher education arena and its time for institutions, governments and corporations to work harder to accommodate and incorporate non-traditional learners into colleges and universities.

Improving Public and Not-for-Profit Higher Education for Adult Students ()

For-profit institutions may have bigger budgets, but there are some key elements that public and not-for-profit institutions could introduce to better serve adult students.

Adults and International Branch Campuses

Some Things Don’t Change: The Global Draw of American Higher Education ()

While the American higher education system faces a great deal of criticism on the home front, an American degree carries a great deal of weight internationally.

Will They Come If You Build It? The Future of International Branch Campuses ()

World campuses that survive will contribute to their host countries, their home institutions and the internationalization of higher education.

Continuing Higher Education in Europe: The Reality ()

Given the amount of funding European governments invest in higher education, the ability for continuing education units to expedite returns on taxpayer investments serve only to enhance the reputation of continuing and professional education.

Social Media and Higher Education

Using Social Media to Break Down Silos and Connect ()

Leading universities are turning to internal social networks to break down interdepartmental silos, leading to more communication, more interdisciplinary learning and better results.

The Time is Now: the Convergence of Social Media and Online Programs in Adult Higher Education ()

The understanding that social media is an integral part of successful adult higher education programming is becoming more prevalent, making it not so much a matter of if these technologies will be leveraged in the classroom, but when.

Higher Education and the Twittersphere: Keeping Alumni Engaged ()

Twitter provides higher education institutions with a direct method to contact and engage with their alumni.

MOOCs and the Explosion of Online Open Source Education

VIDEO | Massive Open Online Courses Creating Massive Accessibility for Adults ()

In this interview, Koller discusses the popularity Coursera enjoys among adult learners, a theme she spoke further about in the talk she gave at TedGlobal 2012.

AUDIO | Massive Open Online Courses: Taking Distance Learning To A New Level ()

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are taking correspondence learning to a whole new level. Curtis Bonk discusses how MOOCs are expanding access to education, and how we could see MOOC-degrees in the future.

Reading the MOOC Tea Leaves ()

The expansion of Massive Open Online Courses has seen significant changes in the way higher education is delivered and has raised many questions about how the industry’s landscape will continue to shift as they continue to spread into the market.

Understanding the Role of Continuing Education on Campus

From Fringe To Core: Agile Measures To Bridge The Gap ()

As higher education institutions strive to be more financially accountable, continuing education departments are being turned to for best practice advice and programming strategy.

Main Campus and Continuing Education: Together Again ()

Higher education institutions need to work with their continuing education units in order to transform traditional academic programs and delivery models into something more suitable to today’s educational climate.

AUDIO | The Impact of Brand Name Institutions on Extension Enrollments ()

Continuing education units at big, name-brand universities may have less difficulty in attracting people through name recognition, but they must work very hard to distinguish their product for their prospective students.

Innovative Credits, Credentials and Degrees

Facilitating Student Success through the Acceptance of Credit in Transfer ()

By accepting credit and work done at prior institutions and through other learning providers, higher education institutions can take a big step toward making colleges and universities work for today’s adult student.

Better Prior Learning Assessment Can Be Higher Education’s Merit Badge ()

Higher education institutions must put more weight into prior learning assessment to expand accessibility for adult students.

Digital Badges: Catalyst in the Evolution of Higher Education or “Killer App” for Alternatives? ()

If higher education institutions adapt to the badging movement, they will cement themselves as indispensible locations of lifelong learning. Otherwise they will continue ther slide into irrelevance.