Abstract
The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of marketing options on college selection, and of CRM tools on marketing efficiency. Five theories of marketing options and efficiency, including Customer Relationship Management, will undergird this study. The problem herein is that small colleges in particular must determine ways to market themselves, optimize use of technology, and increase enrollment in order to compete with other post-high school options. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of marketing options on college selection, and CRM tools on marketing efficiency, using selected theories of marketing options and efficiency as theoretical framework. This study will be conducted utilizing qualitative methodology; information-gathering tools used will be interviews and questionnaires. Data interpretation will be through thematic analysis influenced by elements of transcendental phenomenology. The participants will be approximately 20 currents and former administrators/faculty from small colleges (fewer than 1000 students) from schools in the Mid-Atlantic region, and approximately 400 students enrolled in those schools. The administrators will be interviewed; the students will answer questionnaires. All inquiries are drawn from research questions that reflect the problem, purpose and theoretical framework of this study.
Highlights
The problem is that small colleges in particular must determine ways to market themselves, optimize use of technology, and increase enrollment in order to compete with other post-high school options
Small colleges today face a problem. They must determine ways to market themselves and increase enrollment in order to compete with other post-high school option
With an enrollment of fewer than 1000 students (Singh, 2010), currently are at a crossroads concerning their financial stability. They often lack resources to meet operating costs (Hicks et al, 2014; Mills, 2014), which challenges this financial stability in the context of competing with a host of other post-secondary options that are proving attractive to modern students: community college programs, online programs, technical or specific professional training, the military, larger institutions, or direct entry into the job market (Keller, 2014)
Summary
Larger and well-endowed schools are facing budget issues, small colleges are hit hard. Revisiting marketing options may benefit small colleges that are suffering a downturn in enrollment or are in danger of closing (Croke, 2015). Liberal arts-focused schools, are bearing the brunt of this shift. Small colleges in general are losing students, revenue, even closing in record numbers (McDonald, 2014). For purposes of this study small colleges will be considered as those that fall within a widely-held definition that enroll fewer than 1000 students (McDonald, 2014) there are some who would inflate that number up to 5000 (NACAC, 2015). Expenses incurred in running an institution of higher learning ijms.ccsenet.org
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
