CSU Northridge accelerates growth in continuing education by linking working adults with student success mentoring from InsideTrack
Los Angeles, CA (December 19, 2018) — Today, the Tseng College at California State University, Northridge (CSUN) announced initial results from a multi-year partnership with student success experts InsideTrack. Through a public-private collaboration focused on supporting prospective students in making informed enrollment decisions, the Tseng College saw aggregate enrollment across a number of programs increase by 22 percent year-over-year in the initial pilot.
Through the partnership, InsideTrack’s professional enrollment coaches worked with prospective CSUN students to help them explore career options, define their long-term goals, select the best program, navigate the enrollment process, and start their programs successfully. InsideTrack’s data analysts and consultants also shared insights with Tseng College leaders and staff on prospects’ decision-making behavior, potential challenges and communication preferences, as well as information on the competitive landscape, to support the college in enhancing operational effectiveness and outcomes.
In addition to increasing starts, it is projected that the partnership afforded the College’s program management team 40% more time, creating opportunity to apply greater focus to current student persistence and completion efforts.
The California State University system set ambitious goals for improving student outcomes through its Graduation Initiative 2025 and has already demonstrated meaningful gains over the last several years. The partnership between the Tseng College and InsideTrack centers on improving outcomes, while also expanding access.
“Data illustrates that demand for quality higher education programs, like those offered by the Tseng College, is growing rapidly among mid-career professionals,” said Jonathan Clayden, Director of Graduate and Professional Education Programs and Services at the Tseng College at CSUN. “While we’re committed to expanding our offerings in order to meet such demand, growth in this area should not come at the expense of quality and outcomes. We elected to enter into a public-private partnership with InsideTrack because we felt that the organization shared our values and focus on supporting prospective students in making informed application decisions, and preparing for a strong start. In short, we felt that InsideTrack’s focus is rightly on coaching, and not ‘convincing’.”
The Tseng College at CSUN specializes in advanced degrees and certificates that prepare mid-career adults for success in rapidly growing fields. Utilizing a Master Enabling Agreement (MEA) between the California State University (CSU) system and InsideTrack, CSUN was able to quickly and cost-effectively launch the coaching program, setting the college up to achieve significant results in under a year.
InsideTrack began working with individual CSU campuses over a decade ago. This MEA provides the system’s 23 campuses access to a broad range of InsideTrack services at special rates. The California State University Office of the Chancellor and a number of other CSU campuses are also working with InsideTrack, including Cal Poly Pomona and California State University Channel Islands.
“Leading institutions like CSUN and the other Cal State campuses understand that high integrity enrollment practices centered on what’s right for students are the best approach to growth,” said Kai Drekmeier, founder and president of InsideTrack. “With the success of its enrollment coaching program, CSUN is leading the way in showing higher education how to serve the growing ranks of working adults looking to advance their careers through ongoing education.”
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About California State University, Northridge
Serving more than 40,000 students each year, CSUN is one of the largest universities in the United States, and it has an impact to match its size. Money Magazine recently named CSUN one of the top ten values in all of higher education, and the Social Mobility Index ranked CSUN fifth in the nation for elevating its students’ economic and social well-being. CSUN ranks 10th in the country in awarding bachelor’s degrees to underrepresented minority students, fifth nationally in awarding master’s degrees to Hispanic students and enrolls the largest number of deaf and hard-of-hearing students of any U.S. state university. CSUN’s 171 academic programs and engaged centers enjoy international recognition for excellence. CSUN currently partners with more than 100 institutions of higher education in 22 countries around the globe and attracts the largest international student population of any U.S. master’s level institution. Situated on a 356-acre park-like setting in the heart of Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley, the campus features modern educational buildings and world-class LEED Gold-certified performing arts and recreational facilities recognized as among the best in the country. CSUN is a welcoming university that champions accessibility, academic excellence and student success
About InsideTrack
InsideTrack is passionate about student success. Since 2001, we have been dedicated to partnering with colleges and universities to create adaptive student success solutions that generate measurable results. These solutions combine professional coaching, technology, and data analytics to increase enrollment, completion, and career readiness. Our adaptive coaching methodology is based on the latest behavioral science research and knowledge gained from working with more than 1.5 million students and 1,600 programs. In combination with our uCoach® Platform, our approach optimizes student engagement and generates valuable insights on the student experience through predictive modeling, behavioral analysis, and multichannel communication. InsideTrack is a member of the nonprofit Strada Education Network. Join us and the leading institutions, foundations, and others working to bring the transformative power of education to all individuals. Visit us at www.insidetrack.com and follow us on Twitter @InsideTrack.