An inside look at programs for seven of the fastest-growing occupations
As the job market continues to shift at a rapid pace and the ability to move people and jobs globally grows, colleges and universities are faced with the need to constantly re-evaluate their program mix in order to stay relevant. By offering ‘in-demand’ degrees, institutions can not only attract more students, but also help prepare them for tomorrow’s workforce.
To an outsider (or a prospective student for that matter), choosing which program(s) to offer might seem like an easy task, but it remains one of the toughest challenges for institutions today. Certainly, there are many variables to consider, and Archer recommends that institutions take a holistic look across all of them, including where your institution’s strengths lie.
The digital marketing experts at Archer have, however, discovered a few factors that often go overlooked when institutions are evaluating new programs. Two of these factors, in particular, include demand online (search volume) and the cost to advertise online. Why is this important? Because today, students are researching programs and institutions on the internet. In fact, 86% of prospective students rely on digital in their decision-making journey, according to a Google-Ipsos research report from 2017. And that number only continues to grow. What’s more, higher education as a category is one of the most expensive in terms of online advertising. So, it is important to research online demand and costs so you can factor that into your estimated costs per enrollment.
ARCHER’S PROGRAM ANALYSIS
You might be wondering how to weigh evaluate online demand versus the cost to advertise. We’ll show you how. Archer’s team of enrollment marketing experts took a look at seven of the top 20 fastest-growing occupations, according to BLS and performed a high-level program analysis for each one, based on three factors:
1. Job Market Outlook: BLS job growth projections and average salaries
2. Program Demand: Google search trends and geographic hot spots
3. Competitive Index: Cost to advertise and volume of advertisers
Could any of these seven fast-growing programs be right for your institution? Download the analysis now, and see what our team discovered. Want to know more about our analysis, contact us to speak with one of our enrollment marketing specialists today.
