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Get insights into the attitudes and preferences of prospective adult learners – a growing and increasingly diverse student population….

Adult learners are anything but monolithic. A complex web of economic conditions, demographics, prior educational experiences, and the demands of family and work shape students’ perceptions and attitudes toward school.

Eduventures 2023 Adult Prospect Research provides new insights into how adult learners understand their options for continuing their formal educations. It is widely acknowledged that most adult learners value affordability and flexibility: they are highly conscious of price and value, but want programs that will fit their schedules. This characterization, however, is insufficient to fully understand and predict adult students’ college choices and outcomes.

Eduventures’ Adult Prospect Research Survey acknowledges this complexity and sheds new light on the range and variety of behaviors and preferences among adult learners by revealing 4 Adult Learner Mindsets™. These Mindsets capture the motivators, expectations, and preferences of adult learners so that institutions can not only understand prospective students’ motivators, but tailor outreach to get them to act.

Eduventures Adult Prospect Research Survey is uniquely positioned to help you:
  • Identify the best-fit students within your current pipeline
  • Understand your local or regional audience of prospective adult students compared to a national sample and pinpoint key market opportunities
  • Apply behavioral and attitudinal mindsets to your messaging to boost engagement
  • Effectively respond to perceptions about pricing, modality, student services, and more

Four Behavioral and Attitudinal Mindsets

Adult Prospect Research…

  • Defines four behavioral and attitudinal mindsets to shape institutional outreach and communications
  • Reveals adult students’ motivations for continuing their education to help institutions best connect and support their prospective students
  • Explores adults’ experiences and plans, including: current career, education plans, academic area of interest, school selection process, school financing, and pricing 
  • Vets survey respondents to include only those adults who have an interest in returning to school within the next three years
  • Dives into the differences among adults seeking certificate/non-credit, undergraduate, and graduate degrees

How to Participate in the Adult Prospect Research Survey

Eduventures Research will design, host, and analyze an online survey of prospective adult learners. There are two options for participation:

  • Provide your prospective student list – The benefits of providing your own student inquiry list includes: understanding the quality of your leads and inquiries, targeting new markets, obtaining data on out-of-state inquiries, and others. We recommend that your list consist of a minimum of 10,000 unique names to yield a sample size suitable for analysis.
  • No list? No problem! For those without existing prospective student lists, we can obtain one for you. We will work with our panel provider to create a sample of qualified adults within a geographic area surrounding your institution. A regional sample can be procured either for a low additional cost or bundled into your subscription.

Participate in the Adult Prospect Research™ Survey