Q: Given the international spotlight on physicians and nurses who are holding the frontline on COVID-19, should we be aggressively investing in new health programs?
Unfortunately, the answer to this question is not as straightforward as it may seem. According to Eduventures Prospective Student Research™ and Adult Learner Research™, healthcare related programs are among the most popular for traditional and adult learners alike. Labor demand for most health professions has historically been strong as well.
While the COVID-19 pandemic has certainly exacerbated nursing and physician shortages, job security in these areas is not as rosy as it might seem. The pandemic-related demand is limited to acute and critical care while other specialties are on a temporary hiatus. This means reliable revenue streams for healthcare systems have significantly decreased, resulting in furloughs, layoffs, and salary cuts for many healthcare practitioners.
We can also see the future student demand side take two possible directions. The first scenario that may play out is that idealistic students rush toward healthcare programs to join the ranks of heroized professionals in these fields. This would be similar to the rush into criminal justice and forensics following 9/11.
On the other hand, prospective students are also seeing daily images of overwhelmed healthcare workers with insufficient personal protection equipment (PPE), which could negatively impact student interest for a while. While we believe healthcare program demand will remain high in the future, we advise proceeding with caution into strong investments in these areas if institutions had not already planned to do so pre-pandemic.
Eduventures Senior Analyst at ACT | NRCCUA
Contact
Tuesday June 25, 2019 at 2PM ET/1PM CT
Most colleges and universities are defined by a physical campus in a fixed location, while online learning knows no geographical bounds. Now that fully online enrollments account for about 15% of all undergraduates, and more than 30% of graduate students, the relationship between school location and student location is changing.
A few schools have used online to become national players with large numbers of students in every state, while most institutions have a predominantly local online student body. But does the future favor national or local online markets? Which strategy—local, national, or both—is in the best interests of different types of schools and different types of students, and should policymakers and taxpayers care? The answers will either reinforce institutional locations and identities as we know them, or advance a completely different relationship between institution, student, and place.
In this webinar, we will review new Eduventures analysis of online higher education market dynamics, and the emerging terms of engagement in the battle for value.
