| Student retention is one of the hallmark elements in | | | | is a much better customer for the hotel. |
| assessing a career school's effectiveness. Yet, only a | | | | 4. Don't waste time and money attracting students |
| handful of school owner's have an acute appreciation | | | | that are bad for your school. Think of your best |
| for how to truly affect continuously high retention rates. | | | | students; the students who never complained about |
| One of the challenges is defining where the problem | | | | your tuition; the students who think your instruction and |
| really exists. Most of the effort in finding solutions to | | | | quality of service are great; the students who pay their |
| retention issues is focused on solving systematic | | | | tuition on time; the students who were referred to you |
| problems. But that's missing the mark. The initial focus | | | | by other good students or constantly refer business to |
| has to be on getting to know your students. To know | | | | you. Those are the types of students you need to |
| how to succeed in the career school business and | | | | attract to your school. |
| maintain high retention rates is inseparable from | | | | 5. Where did your best students come from? The |
| knowing your students. You can't have one without the | | | | Yellow Pages? Then advertise heavily in the Yellow |
| other. | | | | Pages! (This is just an example. It may be the Internet.) |
| We have created a checklist for school owners to | | | | 6. Where did your worst, most problematic students |
| study and put into action. It's based on information from | | | | come from? The local free Buyer's Guide you ran an |
| 9 Lies That Are Holding Your Business Back... by | | | | ad in? Advertise more in the sources that produce |
| Steve Chandler and Sam Beckford. These guidelines | | | | higher-quality students. |
| have direct application to the career school business, | | | | 7. Poll your best students and ask how they originally |
| and if applied consistently, will virtually eliminate retention | | | | found your school. If you're doing a good job they'll be |
| worries. | | | | glad to tell you and help you grow your school. |
| Focus on Your Ideal High-Value Students and Ignore | | | | High retention is a direct result of effective marketing |
| the Rest | | | | and advertising that recruits students that are good for |
| 1. You don't want every student in your school. A lot of | | | | your school, and admissions policies that promote |
| school owners make a big mistake by thinking that | | | | enrolling those good students. These students are your |
| they should try to get any student they can. | | | | greatest assets, and the ones you will retain; the ones |
| 2. Most career schools are capacity businesses. That | | | | that will refer other good students to you; the ones |
| means you can only accommodate and service a | | | | that will help you grow and prosper. |
| maximum number of enrollments and students | | | | Here's the Gamelin Axiom for Career School Success: |
| effectively. And if you think that squeaking by with a | | | | Enroll only qualified and employable people in quality |
| 70% retention and a 70% placement rate is OK for | | | | programs of choice that teach in-demand skills, and |
| your business, guess again. | | | | market graduates vigorously to employers who need |
| 3. Think of a hotel. If a hotel in busy season has 100 | | | | those skills. |
| rooms and 90 of those rooms are filled by kids on | | | | If you adopt this axiom as part of your mission and |
| spring break, it may have to turn away a lot of much | | | | carry out your mission, I venture to say that your |
| better customers because it has reached capacity. A | | | | retention and placement problems will be solved |
| business traveler with an expense account who uses | | | | forever. |
| room service and will not steal items from the minibar | | | | |