Premises
a fiercely competitive one. As is evident from this final statement, competition in higher education is just as prevalent as in any other organization, so it makes the understanding of student satisfaction all the more critical to the university’s success.” Kroncke, K. A. (2006). Correlation between faculty satisfaction and student satisfaction in higher education. Thesis. The Ohio State University.
“Ignored Customers’ Needs Dormitories and the campus quad are images of America’s higher-education past that now apply to only a minority of students. Today’s college students are older, often have jobs, and are less likely to be white. Many are not interested in a traditional residential experience. What’s more, as the nation’s population growth has shifted to the South, the numbers of potential students who can pay full freight are now more often located in hot spots like suburban Dallas and Atlanta. Colleges that have paid close attention to those shifts are generally in decent shape. Leading that pack are for-profit institutions, most of which have healthy bottom lines despite the recession. The colleges that succeed in this evolving new world will be the ones that aren’t afraid to try new ideas, like setting up out-of-state branch campuses, spending more on strategic advertising, and building partnerships with community colleges.” Chronicle of Higher Education Staff. (March 13, 2009). 13 reasons colleges are in this mess: How greed, incompetence, and neglect led to bad decisions. Chronicle of Higher Education, 55 (27), A1.
Premise 2 …That Christ-centered colleges and universities must find a way to cultivate, recruit and retain students through improved customer satisfaction. They cannot compete with public institutions on price.
“One thing that’s happened this year is that there’s all this talk, and one-sided media stories, about how private colleges are unaffordable,” Ms. Sweezey the director of admissions at Gettysburg College said. “It’s become almost viral that there’s no loans, that schools are having problems. The truth is that a lot of private colleges have more financial aid available this year, but there’s lots of misinformation out there. And my guidance counselor friends tell me students may be applying to fewer places and turning to their state university, which will be at capacity.” Lewin, T. (December 22, 2008). Private colleges worry about a dip in enrollment. The New York Times.
© 2009 Partnership for Lifelong Learning, Fullerton, CA
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