Higher education has been in the spotlight recently due to the impact COVID-19 has had on campuses across the country. Since closing down in March, colleges and universities have had to figure out whether they were going back to campus in the Fall or conducting classes virtually. Some campuses have opened and re-closed once outbreaks occurred on campus. Needless to say, there has been a lot of turmoil across the higher ed landscape.
Higher Ed has seen many dramatic changes over the course of the last several decades. The cost of tuition and fees has risen substantially over the last 20 years (144%-Private Universities; 165%-Public, out-of-state; 212%-Public, in-state), well outpacing inflation. 70+ non-profit colleges, primarily ones with under 1,000 students, have closed since 2007 because of budget constraints caused by falling enrollment. For-profit colleges have also suffered as increased competition from bootcamps and certification programs, along with stricter government oversight, have caused many to close their doors.
COVID-19 has caused additional changes for higher education with undergraduate enrollment falling by 2.5% in Fall 2020, primarily driven by fewer international students and students opting to defer enrollment due to financial concerns brought on by the pandemic or the move to virtual learning. There were already a number of changes and challenges being faced by legacy higher education institutions prior to the pandemic; COVID-19 has exacerbated many of these challenges and has created new ones. So, what should colleges and universities be doing now to ensure that they are both serving their students well and maintaining or strengthening their financial and institutional health?
1. Focus on offering programs that allow students to re-skill or up-skill
During the financial crisis of 2008, many higher education institutions saw an uptick in enrollment as those who were laid off returned to school to re-educate themselves so that they could get a job requiring a different or more advanced skill. While it’s not entirely clear that the same will occur in the current climate, a 3.8% enrollment increase in graduate programs shows that with higher unemployment, some individuals are looking to add skills that will make them more valuable in the workforce.
Today, there are a number of bootcamps, certification programs, and online options that allow students to re-skill in a faster and lower-cost way. These options were much less common twelve years ago during the financial crisis. These programs are nimble, accessible, and offer robust job placement and job coaching. In order to compete with these options, traditional colleges, universities, and community colleges must consider what programs they are offering, the cost of these programs, and the timing and delivery methods they use. Universities like Yale, University of Georgia, and numerous others have opted to partner with bootcamps to offer university credit and increase course options for students. These programs offer new, valuable skills to current students, but in some cases, do not extend to re-skilling for those leaving the workforce to go back to school. By instituting or expanding these programs to support this population of students, universities have the opportunity to capture some market share that they would otherwise miss.
Universities can also focus on offering programs in areas with high job growth, a large number of openings, and fit within their wheelhouse. Healthcare, for instance, has a strong demand for nurses, home healthcare providers, and business professionals given the aging population and need for family and individual services. Higher education institutions should consider partnering with companies and other organizations to design programs that will directly feed into needed roles within these organizations. By doing this, colleges create a clear path from the classroom to the workforce.
2. Ensure that online learning isn’t just a short-term fix but a long-term strategy
When the pandemic hit in March and colleges and universities had to quickly pivot to online learning, many institutions were caught on their heels. While many universities have had robust online learning for years, others had not adopted the technology needed in order to quickly adapt to a COVID-19 learning environment. As many universities have gone completely online or to a hybrid model, they’ve been forced to adopt new technologies and reimagine how classes are taught.
Most universities are anxious to get back to in-person learning once it’s safe, but they should also consider how to incorporate online learning into their post-pandemic strategy. Are there classes that are more effective or accessible online? Are there certain programs that would expand the university’s reach into new student demographics if they were offered online? Are there ways that the in-class experience can be enhanced by more online integration? These aren’t the only questions that institutions need to answer but are a good jumping off point to ensure long-term success.
Universities are going to vary in the extent that they use online learning when the pandemic concludes, but every university needs to have a clear and cohesive plan for how online learning is going to be utilized, what tools are going to be used, and how it will be managed. While institutions are currently focused on ensuring that online learning is working as effectively as possible, they also need to think about their digital strategy moving forward.
During a crisis, organizations put a lot of time into managing it while also considering how to prevent or mitigate a future crisis. What is often overlooked is how the institution can come out of crisis stronger than they were beforehand with a clear roadmap of where they want to go and how they’re going to get there. So what can be done now to create this roadmap?
Document decisions made during the pandemic to adapt and pivot. This doesn’t have to be an overly complicated process, but it is important to know what worked and what didn’t so the institution can come back and evaluate the decision making at a later date.
Determine the institution’s short-term and long-term goals through deep engagement with students, faculty, alumni, parents, the community, and other key stakeholders. Look at data about future students, the future of the workforce, and emerging trends across higher education and the broader economy. Consider the historical strengths of the institution and how they can be leveraged in a changing landscape. By engaging in a robust exercise and taking in many perspectives and data points, the institution will be in the best position to create goals that are aspirational yet achievable.
Set a clear roadmap for achieving goals by creating short-term and long-term benchmarks, making it clear who has ownership of achieving or guiding each goal, and defining data points that can be used to track the progress toward each goal while celebrating progress along the way.
Get creative. Just because an institution has been doing things the same way for a long time doesn’t mean that it has to continue down that same path. COVID-19, new market entrants, and changing student dynamics will continue to change the way higher education operates, and the plan of an institution should consider and reflect these changes. Don’t be afraid to delve into new programs, new learning models, or new ways to serve students. There is no time like to the present to make a change!
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