INFORMATION FOR PRESIDENTS, VICE-CHANCELLORS, CHIEF INNOVATION
OFFICERS, CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICERS, ENROLLMENT MANAGERS, DEANS OF
ADMISSION, REGISTRARS, INTERNATIONAL DEANS AND RECRUITERS,
ALTERNATIVE EDUCATIONAL PROVIDERS AND EDUCATIONAL CONSULTANTS
MARGUERITE J. DENNIS
BULLETIN # 27 OCTOBER 5 -9, 2020
Fate leads the willing, while the unwilling gets dragged.
Seneca
WHAT HAS COVID-19 TAUGHT US ABOUT HIGHER EDUCATION (SO FAR)
Students prefer in-person instruction over online learning.
New business models will be created to reflect hybrid instruction.
Hybrid, non-degree programs are growing at a rate faster than “traditional”
programs.
The two semester academic year will be replaced by yearlong course offerings.
Career counseling will become a key component in recruitment and branding.
College and university mergers, acquisitions, and closures will continue for the
next few years.
The United States will continue to lose market share of the international student
market.
Chinese students will never enroll in colleges and universities worldwide in the
numbers they did before COVID-19.
Funding for current research projects in several disciplines will be put on hold due
to lack of funding.
HOW COVID-19 HAS IMPACTED HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES (SO
FAR)
According to a recent article in The Chronicle of Higher Education, the higher
education workforce in the U.S. has shrunk by at least 7% since the outbreak of
the virus. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are an estimated
337,000 fewer workers employed by America’s private and public colleges.
Adjunct faculty have been hit especially hard with furloughs, layoffs and contract
non-renewals and in one university, the University of Akron, tenure-track and
tenured faculty positions are in jeopardy.
Early reports indicate that international student enrollment in the United States
for the fall 2020 semester is down 11% for undergraduates and 5% for graduate
students. It is important to remember that the U.S. has been losing market share
of international students since 2015-16.
THE REIMAGINED UNIVERSITY
In the REIMAGINED UNIVERSITY, the importance of career counseling and robust
internship programs, should be in evidence from recruitment through enrollment
to graduation and after graduation. According to Peter Cohen, president of the
University of Phoenix, “continuous skilling” will be required of college and
university graduates. President Cohen defines this as the need for employees to
continually upgrade their skills through short-term programs and stackable
credentials. This is another potential market for the REIMAGINED UNIVERSITY.
I was particularly pleased to learn that a $50-million-dollar donation to Smith
College included $10 million dollars for career counseling.
CHINA UPDATE
An international survey of 149 countries by the PEW Research Center China
revealed that negative views of China have increased since last year: Australia +
24%; Britain +19%; United States +13%.
73% of all of the countries polled attributed their negative opinion of China based
on China’s handling of COVID-19.
These are record negative levels.
According to the South China Morning Post, Mainland China minted 36 new
billionaires in the first seven months of this year, despite the pandemic. (The
combined wealth of these individuals almost equals Russia’s gross domestic
product.)
INTERNATIONAL RECRUITMENT TRENDS
According to a report published by the Federation of Education and Language
Consultant Associations, 46% of agents surveyed reported a 90% decline in their
business from February to August 2020. Nearly a quarter reported a 100%
decline.
According to a report published by the Hong Kong School of Graduate Studies at
Lingnan University, 89.6% of higher education students believe the pandemic has
caused moderate to extreme disruption to their learning.
Swedish officials reported a 13% increase in the number of international students
enrolling in Swedish colleges and universities.
DIGITAL NOMADS
If you are not providing services digitally, you are not in the market.
Professor Greg Richards
At a World Youth and Student Travel Service conference, research advisor Greg
Richards reported that office space in the United States is expected to contract
17% this year and eight out of ten companies plan to continue to allow their
employees to work remotely even after a vaccine is found and distributed. 71% of
the workers polled like the flexibility of working remotely.
Professor Richards defined this population as “digital nomads,” or online workers,
aged 26 to 29, who are “location independent.” This population lead “asset light”
lives. More than 70% have a university degree and live in the United States or
Europe.
This population of workers was approximately two million in 2017 and estimates
for this segment are projected to be as high as one billion by 2035.
Several industries are beginning to look at this cohort of young people for
targeted outreach. Should higher education administrators also target this group
for potential outreach with short courses, micro degrees or stackable credentials?
We do not need magic to change the world. We carry all the power we need inside
ourselves.
J.K. Rowling, Harvard commencement address