Assure Success in Every New Program Launch
Growth Via Program Development
Adding, modifying and at times phasing out programs is necessary to sustainable growth, especially when faced with increased competition. Still, risk is on the table. Only half of new programs generate surplus revenue in the first five years.
What Do You Need to Know Before Launching a Program?
Analyzed scientifically, most program risk-mitigating strategies — software programs that aggregate job board and demographic profile data being the most popular right now — attempt to mitigate risk by looking at gross demand. If gross demand is sufficient, you get a green light. This strategy is weak. It generates potentially costly false positives. Here is why.
Gross demand, while a necessary condition to success, bears no direct relationship to program success in a specific market (defined as the combination of program, platform, and pedagogy). A sound program launch decision is based on net demand analyzed in relation to other critical success factors including the perceived image and share of competing programs, and the ability of those programs to scale in response to additional demand.
Would you launch a new program based on strong indications of demand if another institution offered a similar program, had a visible and sterling reputation for that program, had graduates placed in key employment contexts, was priced lower, and was committed to expanding to meet all additional need as it emerged? Several combinations of these conditions might cause you to pause and reconsider.
As senior higher education research professionals specializing in this area, we know what data to gather, in what order, and how to analyze and interpret it to provide you with precision guidance to ensure the success of your next new program.
Useful Recommendations
While we have issued a very small number of false negative (do not launch) recommendations, we have yet to issue a single false positive recommendation across our 26 year history of 3,000 studies. Among clients who acted on our affirmative program launch recommendations, all enjoyed program success at or above the level we identified.
InterEd's Market-Maker™ program feasibility research eliminates the risk of launching a new program to a negligible level and does so for less than the cost of reports that do not increase your chance of success.
Questions Answered
Below are the kinds of questions answered by InterEd’s Market-Maker™ program feasibility research.
Will this program succeed, struggle, or fail in your proposed configuration? Are there other configurations in which the program would succeed?
If you offer this program, which programs offered by other universities will be your de facto competitors, what kind of risk do they pose, how significant is that risk, and can you mitigate it?
If blended, is the need for your program located within the area from which prospective students are likely to attend your new program? Is your method of blending optimal for your audience and context; if not, can you improve your potential for success?
If online, what kind of branding and lead generation budget will be required for your program to succeed against your de facto competitors in a defined market attraction area?
If the option is available, should you launch online, blended, or both and in what configurations?
Are prospective competitors turning away qualified applicants? If so, what is constraining them from growing, for how long, and are those constraints relevant to you (e.g., availability of externship opportunities, enrollment restrictions imposed by professional accreditors)?
If program demand increases, can your prospective competitors easily scale to meet growing need and are they committed to doing so?
Are there notable pricing or time-to-degree issues operating in this environment to put you at a competitive advantage or disadvantage?
Can you secure enrollments sufficient to meet your needs from uncommitted future growth? If not, what proportion of your growth would depend on taking market share away from competitors, and what would be required to do so?
Does your institution possess sufficient brand equity to offer this program in this market? Overall, how will your brand stand up against the competition and, if necessary, what is the best way to enhance it?
Do employers in your market perceive an unmet need for more graduates of this type of program? If so, what are the details of that need?
Are employers interested in collaborating with you in ways that might be mutually beneficial? If so, what is their situation and contact information?
The Ultimate Question Answered
InterEd’s Market-Maker™ program feasibility research will answer the top line question that identifies and eliminates the exogenous threats to the success of your new program:
Is there reliable evidence of growing unmet need for a program for which your institution possesses enough brand equity to enroll a desired number of students?
Deliverables
Do you like our research strategy? We think you will love our deliverables. The findings of InterEd’s Market-Maker™ program feasibility research arrive in a written report and via one or more briefing teleconferences. (A planning teleconference comes at the beginning.) While our written reports are detailed, direct, and provide clear, no-hedge recommendations, the post-research teleconference briefings are the more important deliverable. In these briefings, we all consider your possibilities in dialogue, achieving the kind of creative depth not possible in a written report.
By the way, an appendix in your written report will contain our interview notes and contact information for the employers, competing programs, and other knowledge holders with whom we had personal conversations. Our notes – the product of intelligent conversations, not scripted surveys – provide an invaluable first step in launching a successful new program, especially when employers express interest in supporting your initiative.
Give Us a Call
Tell us a little about your proposed program, your target market, and whether you plan to offer it online or blended (we do not recommend offering any on-ground programs that are not blended). We will get back to you the same or next day with details, including whether or not we recommend research, a not-to-exceed cost, the first date we can get you on the calendar, and more detail on precision risk mitigation.
