Is Online Education Reaching a Plateau?
"...online providers will need to do more to make their product stand out" On September19, 2012 Inside Higher Ed ran a fascinating article describing an Eduventures report about the pace of growth in online education. Specifically the Eduventures report detailed the results of their survey of prospective adult students. The survey found that there has been little change in prospective students' preference for online education since a similar survey was conducted in 2006. The relative stability in the numbers seems to suggest that after years of significant year over year growth, the market is reaching maturity. The report goes ...
Is Your Institution Prepared to Launch Online Programs?
It seems like every month more and more colleges begin offering online degree programs. It is a great time for students because these are so many high quality educational institutions that now offer online degrees. The competition in the market is creating an environment where only the best programs with the best tuition value will survive. However, for every school that is succeeding online, there are several that are struggling. The reason for this has a lot to do with the way that colleges approach online programs. Many schools that we have interacted with at BEST make two flawed assumptions. ...
Anti-turnkey Philosophy
Why we Don't Have a Offer Cookie Cutter Solutions The reasons why we preach an anti-turnkey philosophy are pretty complex but they can be summed up in one sentence, 'Every college is different'. It really is that simple. It is a waste of time and an exercise in frustration to try and make every college client fit into a rigid model. Instead, we work to understand a client and we build a model that works for that institution. Of course there are certain consistencies that we encounter with each client, but there are also vast differences from college to college. ...
Community Colleges Provide Path to a Four Year Degree
Inside Higher Ed ran a really interesting article yesterday about outlining a study from the National Student Clearinghouse. This study discusses the role of community colleges in higher education today. Specifically the study speaks to the number of students at four year institutions that started their educational careers at a two year institution. The following quote from the article is particularly illuminating: "...a series on student mobility that the clearinghouse has begun producing to capitalize on the unique data it collects as a repository of student-level information from more than 3,000 colleges -- reveals that 45 percent of ...
Webber International University Partners with Barker Educational Services Team to Grow Online Programs
Barker Educational Services Team (BEST) is pleased to announce a new enrollment partnership with Webber International University and St. Andrews University to manage advertising, enrollment and student services activities for the online programs at both the Florida and North Carolina locations. Scottsdale, AZ (PRWEB) July 30, 2012 Barker Educational Services Team (BEST) is pleased to announce a new enrollment partnership with Webber International University located in Babson Park, Florida, and St. Andrews University, formerly known as St. Andrews Presbyterian College, located in Laurinburg, North Carolina. St. Andrews is a branch of ...
BEST Welcomes Its Newest Team Member
Barker Educational Services Team (BEST) is pleased to announce the addition of a new team member and the expansion of its marketing interactive lead generation team. The new team member, Amy Ouzoonian comes to BEST from New York City and she brings a background in web design, social media, search engine marketing and search engine optimization. Amy will be working side by side with Dave Tarner, the Vice President of Strategic Initiatives, to expand and enhance BEST’s already robust national interactive marketing campaigns. Todd Prince, President of BEST, had this to say about the expanding team, “In this slow ...
Childhelp and BEST Launch National Partnership
Childhelp USA has selected Barker Educational Services Team (BEST) to manage the promotion and distribution of its new online educational program. The program, Childhelp Speak Up Be Safe™, is designed to help children, parents and educators to identify, avoid and address child abuse. Scottsdale, AZ (PRWEB) October 13, 2011 Childhelp USA has selected Barker Educational Services Team (BEST) to manage the promotion and distribution of its new online educational program. The program, Childhelp Speak Up Be Safe™, is designed to help children, parents and educators to identify, avoid and address child abuse. ...
It’s been awhile
Good morning higher education community. It has been awhile since we have actively blogged here at BEST. This can be blamed in part on the fact that we have been quite busy with existing and new clients. We will be much more diligent in the coming months. BEST recently began working with a school called MTEC that offers Medical Transcription and Editing programs online. When we started working with this client we were immediately impressed by the quality of the online programs that this school offers. MTEC is ...
Enrollment Concepts from a Higher-Ed Leader
The following is a contribution from BEST’s founder Bob Barker. Bob has been in non-traditional higher education for nearly 30 years. Musings from a Veteran of Non-traditional Higher Education In the not too distant future I will have been actively involved in the higher education space for about 30 years. Over those years, the number one challenge for the institutions that I have worked with has been competing for student enrollment growth. College Presidents, Enrollment Directors, and investors in the education space have all have placed a significant amount of emphasis on online education as ...
BEST execs attend Ed Fair
This week CEO Bob Barker and Executive Vice President Pete Morton attended the Rhode Island National Guard Military-Friendly Job Fair at Warwick armory.