Intent Matters: The most important measure colleges can use to reclaim & enhance adult enrollment

Postsecondary institutions have an opportunity to not only meet their enrollment goalsbut to also address equity gaps in higher education. By intentionally targeting adultpopulations with intent to enroll, they can not only help close the gap in access to highereducation, they can also provide tremendous benefits to those individuals, includinggreater upward mobility and an increase in average annual salary. According toCollegeAPP data, 20% of all U.S. adults including 40% of Hispanic/LatinX, 39% of Black,and 35% over the age of 18 in the U.S. intend to enroll in college in the next two years.This is a massive opportunity for institutions to make higher education available to alarger portion of the population, while directly addressing equity gaps. The recent U.S. Department of Education issued new guidance to strengthen oversightof revenue-sharing agreements and outsourced service will put new responsibility andpossibility for colleges to reclaim their marketing and rededicate themselves to theirmission both socially and financially.