WASHINGTON, May 19, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Improving how
institutions track career outcomes has emerged as the highest
priority for senior executives of online and professional higher
education programs, according to the annual Future of Online and
Professional Education Survey from EAB. This is a shift from
previous years, when organizing and funding a new program launch
was the top priority. EAB provides research, technology, and
services to more than 1,000 colleges and universities
nationwide.
In the survey, 95% of respondents expressed interest in better
tracking graduates' career outcomes. Schools are seeking to
develop more sophisticated and inclusive metrics for career
success. Today, institutions primarily look at average salary
data for graduates or whether or not students got a job after
graduation. Executives want to be able to show student
success over time–especially important as students seek to
understand better how schools can help change or advance their
careers.
Understanding how their students fare in the workforce
post-graduation allows program and marketing directors to tweak
program content, improve messaging to prospective students, and
make a stronger case to employers as higher education institutions
compete for diminishing tuition reimbursement dollars.
"The survey results underscore the importance of preparing
students for lifelong career success," said Scott Fassbach, Chief Research Officer at
EAB. "Institutions are clearly responding to contemporary
learner demands for flexible, personalized, and effective education
options."
Additionally, short-format, alternative credentials for students
changing careers, like certificates and digital badges, are
garnering intense interest from senior executives---and the survey
suggests a doubling of such offerings over the next five years.
Close to 50% of respondents plan to add customizable
certificates to their portfolio in the next five years, compared to
the 4% of respondents who currently offer this type of
credential. Thirty percent of respondents plan to offer
digital badges in the next five years.
"Millennials---poised to represent three-quarters of the
workforce by 2025 and expected to average 20 jobs over the course
of their lifetimes---are approaching professional education
differently," said Carla Hickman,
Practice Manager at EAB. "They are seeking short-format
courses and credentials for 'just-in-time' and 'just enough'
education."
For its annual Future of Online and Professional Education
Survey, EAB surveyed 85 senior executives of continuing, online,
and professional education in spring 2015. Survey questions
are based on EAB's thousands of annual research interviews with
higher education executives and insights from more than 1,000 EAB
members.
About EAB
Launched in 2007, EAB is a division
of The Advisory Board Company. Through the firm's innovative
membership model, EAB helps solve the most pressing problems of
academic and administrative higher education leaders by drawing on
insights from its more than 1,000 members spanning two-year and
four-year schools. For more information, visit
www.eab.com.
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