Lessons from FACC 2008 No comments yet

The 2008 annual conference for the Florida Association of Community Colleges is coming to a close in Orlando today.  Not surprisingly, the hot topics of conversation were related to budget and funding (or lack thereof), and how to do more with less. When it comes to marketing and branding for community colleges, I reassured attendees that we can work with most any budget to keep the marketing efforts alive—which is so critical right now.

On another note, while many community colleges are experiencing a surge in enrollment because traditional students are choosing more affordable local colleges, some colleges outside metro areas are seeing just the opposite. In fact, 2-year institutions in more rural areas of Florida are experiencing a decline in enrollment. This is because students are being forced to work more hours to make ends meet (in many cases more than one job). There simply isn’t enough money or time at the end of the day to pursue education opportunities. 

These are all conditional market factors we need to keep in mind when planning our marketing strategies for 2009. Thank you to all the college representatives who took the time to speak with me at FACC. I look forward to next year!