Eduventures Research Wake-Up Call

Wake-Up Call

The Wake-Up Call is a weekly analysis of higher education research, news and survey data, as well as industry events, and insider perspectives – delivered to your inbox every Tuesday morning. Subscribe today.

All Wake-Up Call content and Eduventures Research is available in Encoura Data Lab, a service that is exclusive to members of NRCCUA.

Future Formula: Can Online Learning Help Solve College Debt?

by Richard Garrett, Eduventures Chief Research Officer at ACT | NRCCUA | Feb 19, 2019 | Program Innovation

Eduventures Summit 2019 June 5-7, Boston, MA Registration is open! In an environment where college tuition continues to march ahead of inflation and the student debt balloon grows bigger every year, [inlinetweet prefix="RT @EduventuresInc: College debt -" tweeter=""...

You’re the One that I Want: Separating the Committed Applicants from the Rest

by Johanna Trovato, Eduventures Senior Analyst at ACT | NRCCUA | Feb 12, 2019 | Traditional Student Demand

Sometimes you just know. Whether it’s the love of your life, the career you will pursue, or simply the sweater you see at the store: when it’s right, you just know. Or at least you think you know… long enough to take the plunge. This phenomenon is also present among...

Esports: More Than Just an Extracurricular?

by Michael Miller, Eduventures Client Research Analyst at ACT | NRCCUA | Feb 5, 2019 | Program Innovation

The surge in esports (a.k.a. competitive video gaming) has officially transferred off of the couch and onto campus. Over the past year, several institutions have embraced extracurricular activities focused on esports. Others are even bringing esports into the...

State of the Field: Findings from the 2018 National Survey of Postsecondary CBE

by Howard Lurie, Eduventures Principal Analyst at ACT | NRCCUA | Jan 29, 2019 | All Topics, Program Innovation

As the 21st century nears the two-decade mark, more than 90% of degree or certificate granting colleges and universities remain wedded to an idea first introduced alongside the birth of the flush toilet, typesetting, and the curtain rod. We speak, of course, of the...

All Grown Up: Cybersecurity Moves into the Mainstream

by Johanna Trovato, Eduventures Senior Analyst at ACT | NRCCUA | Jan 22, 2019 | Program Innovation, Program Spotlight

By now it’s an open secret that cybersecurity is a hot ticket in the world of academic programs. Employment prospects for graduates are excellent—many employers can’t fill open positions fast enough. Many institutions have added, or are thinking about adding, a new cybersecurity program to their portfolios.

How to Answer the Trust Question: Five EdTech Vendors to Watch

by James Wiley, Eduventures Principal Analyst at ACT | NRCCUA | Jan 15, 2019 | Technology Research

All of us have been in a situation where we have had to validate our identity or provide proof of our abilities. You may have recently used your driver’s license to go through airport security or rent a car, for example. While these activities may seem simple, they...

Higher Education Predictions for 2019: Low-Priced Master’s, Course Licensing, and CLIMB

by Richard Garrett, Eduventures Chief Research Officer at ACT | NRCCUA | Jan 8, 2019 | Adult Learner Demand, All Topics, Program Innovation, Student Success, Technology Research, Traditional Student Demand

Let’s start with two things I don’t think will happen next year: an enrollment-spurring recession (enrollment-spurring for the adult market particularly—my bet is 2020), and passage of the reauthorized Higher Education Act (unlikely with a divided Congress). Here are...

The Top 5 Wake-Up Calls of 2018

by Cara Quackenbush, Eduventures Vice President of Research at ACT | NRCCUA | Dec 18, 2018 | Adult Learner Demand, All Topics, Program Innovation, Student Success, Technology Research, Traditional Student Demand

For our final post of 2018, we reflect on what you, our readers, have signaled are the most important topics of the past year. The themes of our top five most-read Wake-Up Calls range widely—from questions about the evolving online program management (OPM) market, to getting ahead of the recruitment curve for all kinds of students.

What We Learned This Year: Eduventures Analysts Reflect on 2018

by Eduventures Analyst Team at ACT | NRCCUA | Dec 11, 2018 | Adult Learner Demand, All Topics, Program Innovation, Program Spotlight, Student Success, Technology Research, Traditional Student Demand

For this post, we asked five Eduventures analysts to reflect on a simple question: What did you learn this year? As their answers revealed, quite a lot.

Grading the Accuracy of our 2018 Higher Ed Predictions

by Richard Garrett, Eduventures Chief Research Officer at ACT | NRCCUA | Dec 4, 2018 | Adult Learner Demand, All Topics, Program Innovation, Student Success, Technology Research, Traditional Student Demand

Back in January, I made three higher education predictions for 2018. This Wake-Up Call examines whether this year’s forecasts panned out. My 2018 conjectures were nothing if not ambitious. Throwing precedent and experience out the window, I predicted: