From the editorial board

Feature

Seven guiding questions for student retention
Keeping students in school seems harder than it should be. Today's students appear to be less prepared, have more emotional baggage, and have a different set of expectations than prior cohorts. It's arguable whether any or all of this is true, but for the average campus professional, it seems to ring true.

In practice

Improving service to traditional students and students-at-a-distance with technology and training
The institution I serve entered its accreditation self-study with confidence that its services were of the highest quality. Imagine our shock as we realized the expectation of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) that we, as an institution with significant online course offerings, must deliver all student services to any enrolled student, regardless of their ability to visit our campus.

Literature reviews

Article: Correcting course: How we can restore the ideals of public higher education in a market-driven era, by Lara Couturier and Jamie Scurry
Couturier and Scurry present an insightful and comprehensive account of the changes that are confronting higher education and how these changes are altering the way higher education operates. The authors state that institutions of higher education are dramatically more market-oriented today than in past years.

Review Essay: What we know about student credit use and abuse and what we can do about it
Student debt is a justifiably hot topic on campuses and has been for several years. With the steep increase in tuition and fees at most campuses and a concomitant stagnation of levels of aid to pay for a college education, it's no surprise that debt is a concern. Debt, especially credit card debt that has to be paid while the student is in school, puts students at risk of being unable to continue their educations or to increase the number of stopouts and greatly slow their educations. For this reason, it is important for enrollment managers to know as much as possible about student debt and credit card use. Only armed with facts will we be able to help, teach, and cajole our students onto the right paths.

Events calendar

Call for submissions

Editorial Board

Mike Novak*
The College Board

Ed Apodaca*
University of Houston — Downtown

Arnold Trejo
Texas A&M University

David Hardy
Mountain View College

Brent Cejda
Texas Tech University

Ron Brown
University of Mary Hardin-Baylor

Jacob Fraire
TG

Matt Short
TG

Maria Luna-Torres
TG

Vickie Murillo
TG

* Co-Chair, TG Strategic Enrollment Management Committee, Council for the Management of Educational Finance