In my last installment, I painted the picture about the Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities’ (APSCU) annual convention held in Denver, Colo. in early June. I also shared my interview with Lauren Weymouth, vice president of business development at Ridley-Lowell Business and Technical Institute on the East Coast. You can read that here.
This installment speaks towards the observations on the state of private colleges and universities from the perspective of Jim Hutton, publisher of Career Education Review and director at Keiser University.
For those of you that don’t recognize his name, suffice it to say he is a well-respected industry veteran, having served as executive chairman of the board and channel CEO for Anthem Education until 2012 and co-founded Education Corporation of America (Virginia College) and served as its CEO until 2006.
What Hutton suggested was a recurring theme I’ve heard in my journey to understand how learning institutions are recruiting students.
“I concur with others that have expressed that referrals and relationships are still the best customers,” Hutton said.
He fancies himself as an old-school player where too much emphasis is being placed on pay-per-lead and he offers that schools are generally unhappy. Point well taken, but it could well reflect that said schools are in their infancy of implementing effective predictive lead scoring programs.
Shifting the conversation away from leads, Hutton said that schools are engaged in a flight to quality.
“The measurement today is how many graduates there are,” Hutton said.
What was unique about my conversation with Hutton was looking into his role as a publisher. Hutton is now the publisher of Career Education Review, which holds itself as a journal born as a way for school owners to exchange ideas.
Today, the Career Education Review has evolved into the comprehensive source of news, best practices, research and commentary that anyone involved with the career college sector needs and wants. In its own words, the Career Education Review is dedicated to providing top management, owners, investors, sector leaders and suppliers with the in-depth information required to survive and prosper in today's education arena.
