Struggling educational businesses should get strategic

livemint.com:

covid pandemic is not the only culprit. The higher education sector has problems of declining student enrolment (barring medical colleges) and financial challenges that require radical changes in the way it functions. A financial stress test will probably confirm that more colleges face closure.

Colleges often struggle because their various departments work in mutual isolation, with no alignment. As competition for students, high-quality faculty and corporate recruiters heats up, it is all the more crucial for the academic, admission, marketing and placement folks to come together and forge a cohesive action plan to increase revenues and enhance the college’s reputation. The struggle to strike a balance between admission numbers and faculty strength has been perennial.

Good teaching staff not only means higher salary bills, but a better brand reputation as well. Educational institutions, like other organizations, also suffer from their marketing departments working in silos. Dwindling revenues have reduced budgets, and without a collaborative effort, marketers in this sector cannot hope to make an impact.

Existing and new institutions will have to fight for potential students in many streams. As if this is not daunting enough, they must contend with changing preferences and rising questions about the value of a college degree in the wake of high unemployment. While thousands of engineering graduates find it hard to get gainful employment, three-year degree holders have it worse.

Starting salaries have been stagnant for most of them, even in the hallowed IT corridors. Yet, tuition fees have been rising every year. Many promoters lose sleep over how to convince students and parents of the value of a degree.