Our panel of experts discusses the hottest topics in higher education, including declining enrollment rates, emerging digital technologies, and virtual fundraising.
Flint Brenton
What do you see as the biggest barrier to enrollment right now?
The biggest barrier to enrollment was ignited by the pandemic but has been around for a while: higher education’s value proposition within its existing delivery model. The pandemic caused more students to think critically about their financial situations and many realized the value of remote learning, which offers significant cost savings by living at home rather than on campus. Now, many aren’t interested in giving that up to enroll in on-campus classes.
This rapid transition has changed the student experience and eroded traditional campus offerings, while illuminating significant questions about the higher education model for the first time in a century.
In your opinion, what is one of the most important investments higher education can make to bounce back from the pandemic?
To remain functional as we move through the pandemic, higher education institutions must look ahead to stay agile and nimble, ready to respond to changing variables.
One of the most important investments higher education institutions can make is in financial planning, specifically scenario modeling, at the unit or initiative level, and organization-wide. This allows leaders to quantify the potential financial impact of factors like enrollment results, changes in tuition revenue, financial aid costs, and revenues from auxiliaries like housing, athletics, and student fees.
What do you think will be essential for colleges and universities as they prepare for the predicted enrollment downturn over the next five years?
Preparing for this downturn is where long-range planning and scenario analysis come into play. A mix-and-match approach to assumptions allows leaders to examine conservative and aggressive scenarios individually or in conjunction with other scenarios, including whether or not there is a decrease in enrollment. Other factors to consider with scenario analysis include: revenue increases or decreases, historical actuals, economic factors, wages, interest rates, capital markets, and much more.
By considering multiple scenarios in tandem, higher education leaders can best inform planning and decision-making, and prepare for the best — and worst — outcome.
Charlie Mulligan
Co-Founder and Managing Director, GiveGab
What do you see as the biggest barrier to enrollment right now?
For the cost of higher education enrollment, students want a fully immersive experience of campus life and academic collaboration. They are considering the cost vs. value of what campus engagement is like during a pandemic with the unknowns of in-person collaboration and virtual engagement. There is opportunity in the growing tech industry for students to take a gap year and get real-world experience that may be appealing to many during this time.
In your opinion, what is one of the most important investments higher education can make to bounce back from the pandemic?
Investing in effective digital fundraising and alumni engagement technology. The pandemic created a shift to digital engagement that is here to stay!
Coping behaviors become habits after 21 days, and during the pandemic lockdown, people everywhere had weeks and months to adapt and learn how to engage with their networks in new ways virtually. This applies to donor habits as well.
As higher education communities are bouncing back into in-person classes and events, digital engagement can’t be left behind. Investing in effective fundraising technology that works to rally your full community (students, alumni, donors, faculty, etc.) digitally sets your in-person events up for success.
What do you think will be essential for colleges and universities as they prepare for the predicted enrollment downturn over the next five years?
For universities and colleges to build a sustainable financial plan where they can be successful even when enrollment rates eb and flow, they need to capitalize on current student and alumni engagement.
Giving Days are a great way to capitalize on school spirit and re-engage alumni. The gamification built into Giving Day challenges provides an easy way for ambassadors to raise funds for an initiative, cause, or program they are passionate about on the school’s behalf. This can be a huge alternate revenue stream to fill the gaps when school enrollment is low. On average, every ambassador advocating for a school’s giving day through peer-to-peer technology, brings in four new donors to the school.