Content written by Goldie Blumenstyk and published by The Chronicle of Higher Education
MBA News Digest Comment: This is a must read article for GME program leaders. It describes the Walmart of higher education and how they are doing what they are doing to make it that type of higher education organization.
Extracted Content: Spend a little time inside the sprawling former textile mill that houses the key business and academic arms of Southern New Hampshire University’s online college, and one thing becomes abundantly clear: This is an enterprise built to grow.
The evidence is in the hanging computer screens that show how well the university’s website is performing. It’s in the hundreds of headset-wearing admissions reps and academic advisers encouraging students to enroll and continue in their courses of study.
And it’s in the private university’s trajectory over the past decade. During that time, enrollment has gone from 8,600 degree-seeking students in 2008 to more than 122,000 today. The president since 2003, Paul LeBlanc, will tell you that it’s just getting started. The plan is for the university to nearly triple its enrollment over the next five years.