7 Steps to Successfully Grow Your Online Enrollment
When I moved from four years as Director of Residential Recruiting to Executive Director of Distance Learning, I realized I was comparing apples and oranges in the recruiting cycle. Through this posting you will see bits and pieces of an article written by Marketing Sherpa, Inc. in June 2008 that I participated in. (I could not include the whole article because of copyright laws) Please click the logo above to visit their website. They have a full range of useful articles and tools.
Here was the challenge I was faced with when I first came into the online industry:
“Adult distance learners are a difficult demographic for colleges to attract. It’s not like targeting high school students within a certain radius and knowing that many of them will be interested in you simply because of your location.” (Marketing Sherpa June 2008)
“Ronald Kennedy faced this dilemma when he became Executive Director, Distance Learning and Graduate Studies, Liberty University, about 2 1/2 years ago. He was charged with increasing the college’s distance learner enrollment, which were about 12,000 students when he took over. At Liberty, adult and distance learners are almost one and the same — 60% to 70% are 30 to 45 years old.” (Marketing Sherpa June 2008)
Junior Achievement Award Ceremony
This year was the first year that I participated in Junior Achievement as a business educator. My brother and I both received a plaque for our efforts. I only have a picture of my brother receiving his plaque because I was on vacation and could not attend the ceremony.
Junior Achievement is a worldwide partnership between the business community, educators and volunteers — all working together to inspire young people to dream big and reach their potential. Junior Achievement’s hands-on, experiential programs teach the key concepts of work readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy to young people all over the world.
My brother Rick Kennedy (high school business teacher for E.C. Glass high school) and I teamed up this year. This was his fourth year doing this and my first. Below is the article from the Lynchburg City School website about this year’s results.
Good Business Sense: E.C. Glass Economics Students Awarded for their Entrepreneurial Skills
Liberty University Distance Learning MBA listed as a Best Buy
Liberty University distance learning M.B.A. program is rated among the nation’s best buys by a respected national Web-based clearinghouse dedicated exclusively to showcasing accredited online degrees.
Liberty’s online M.B.A. (master of business administration) program is rated No. 38 in GetEducated.com’s ”Top 40 Ranked Best Buys-Online Graduate M.B.A.” programs. The Web-based business is located in Essex Junction, VT.
A “best buy” designation indicates that a program has been reviewed and judged to offer a high-quality distance M.B.A. to a national audience at tuition rates well below the national average. The rankings are based upon tuition costs of 168 accredited, distance-learning and online M.B.A. degree programs.
Liberty University’s distance learning program offers nine start dates each year, August, September, October, January, February, March, April, and June. The Liberty M.B.A. program consists of 45 semester hours of graduate coursework. Within the 45 hours, nine hours are completed for a specific concentration such as, accounting, human resources, international business, or leadership. The program is designed to improve students’ capacity for careers advancement and placement within the business sector.
My thoughts as Executive Director:
We are proud of the value associated with our online M.B.A. program. We keep our tuition affordable because it is part of our mission. The vision of our Chancellor, Jerry Falwell Jr., is to keep Liberty Distance Learning affordable so as many people as possible can experience a Christ-centered education, that will propel each student forward spiritually as well as professionally. Our low tuition rates still come with the same quality and curriculum that our resident students experience on campus.
Liberty University Distance Learning Program tops 27,000
Liberty University’s Distance Learning Program on Monday, May 26th, topped the 27,000 student mark for the first time.
The program, which allows students to take courses online, has grown 141 percent over the past two years.
The program topped the 25,000 student mark for the first time in March.
LU founder, the late Dr. Jerry Falwell, set 25,000 as his initial DLP goal.
Ronald S. Kennedy, LU’s executive director of distance learning and graduate studies, said LU hopes to double Falwell’s initial goal in three to five years.
“We think it is realistic for us to get up to 50,000 students in the next three years,” Kennedy said. “It’s exciting. We’re continuing to grow.”
Two years ago, DLP enrollment had an annual growth rate of 12 percent.
“The past two years, we’ve seen a growth rate of 50 to 51 percent,” Kennedy said.
LU’s DLP has 8,000 military students enrolled today, compared with 3,600 two years ago.
written on Monday, May 19, 2008 by Mitzi Bible
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