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Information for the Press and Media

For Immediate Release

Study Shows Not-For-Profit Universities Exhibiting Aggressive Behavior In Online Marketing Practices: Findings Part of eLearners.com Recently Released Research Report

Hoboken, NJ (PRWEB) July 10, 2006 — While for-profit institutions have been aggressively courting students for their online programs via emarketing for years, the not-for-profits have been slower on the draw. But that is changing, according to a recent report, entitled "Attracting The Next Generation of Online Learners," from eLearners.com, the leading resource for connecting students with online education.

In a survey of colleges and universities actively marketing their degrees online, 82 percent of the for-profit institutions claimed they devote more than fifty percent of their budget to online marketing versus only 40 percent of the not-for-profits claiming expenditures of fifty percent and above. However, when asked about their anticipated spending for the coming year, 80 percent of the not-for-profit schools indicated they would be increasing their online marketing budget, while 82 percent of for-profits say they plan for their budgets to decrease or remain the same.

When asked about their student enrollment process, for-profits appeared to be a bit more aggressive with 91 percent saying they follow up with prospective students at least once per month after the initial contact compared to just 50 percent of not-for-profits indicating the same. However, the outcome tends to lean in favor of the not-for-profits, at least with respect to timing, where 70 percent of not-for-profit respondents saying that the average time it takes from initial contact to paid enrollment is three months or less versus only 55 percent of the for-profits closing the deal in that time frame.

"Obviously, the for-profits have been realizing success using online marketing channels for a longer period of time, and their budgets reflect it," said Andrew Gansler, CEO of eLearners.com. "But, without question the not-for-profits are taking the field and want to play. At eLearners.com, we are seeing it day in and day out as more and more not-for-profits are approaching us for help. The question now is whether the not-for-profits can leverage their brand names enough to offset the tremendous marketing prowess that the for-profits have achieved."

Overall, the participating institutions indicated that the biggest challenges facing them in online recruiting is generating qualified leads, name recognition, contact rates (ability to reach the leads) and conversion rates of leads to enrollments. A unique struggle among not-for-profits was dealing with internal bureaucracy challenges, while for-profits mentioned the challenge of ever increasing competition and costs.

eLearners.com interviewed 25 percent of its client base for this survey. The sample was evenly distributed, with 52 percent of respondents representing for-profit institutions, and 48 percent representing not-for-profits. The candidates were interviewed on a host of subjects, including contact response, conversion, retention, vendor relationships, budgets and program selection.

eLearners.com's research report, "Attracting the Next Generation of Online Learners," from which this data was drawn, is available to institutions offering online programs by emailing Howard Mandel, VP of Sales, at e-mail protected from spam bots.

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About EducationDynamics

EducationDynamics, LLC, a portfolio company of Halyard Capital, is a leading interactive marketing and information services company focused on helping higher education institutions find, enroll and retain students. Home to some of the most visible education Web sites, including EarnMyDegree.com, eLearners.com, GradSchools.com, and StudyAbroad.com, EducationDynamics is one of the leading providers of qualified leads for colleges and universities. In addition, the company offers a full suite of Web-delivered products and services to manage a school's relationship with students across their entire life cycle from inquiry through enrollment to retention. For more information on EducationDynamics, please visit http://www.educationdynamics.com.

About eLearners.com®

The eLearners.com Web site is one of several high visibility, high-quality prospecting tools offered by EducationDynamics, LLC. Since 1999, eLearners.com has been successfully connecting learners to online education, including online degree and certificate programs, specialized career training, and a variety of online courses. For prospective students, eLearners® provides a powerful search engine for users to find thousands of online program offerings, as well as educational evaluation tools and financial aid resources. For colleges and universities, the eLearners.com Web site offers a low-cost, performance-based method to provide national exposure and increase enrollments in their programs. For more information on eLearners.com, visit www.elearners.com.

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