The higher education landscape is rapidly evolving, driven by changing learner needs and surging demand for non-credit programs and alternative credentials. Today’s learners, often busy with personal and professional life, are increasingly drawn to flexible, career-enhancing opportunities offered by Professional, Continuing, and Online (PCO) units.
Enrollments from the traditional student demographic have been decreasing at a historic rate for years, and may be facing a cliff next year (The Chronicle of Higher Education, 2024). Many institutions have begun offering more flexible options in the form of non-degree programs and alternative credentials for non-traditional learners. However, many institutions have opted to manage these flexible programs through traditional management systems, such as the institution’s main SIS. But is the traditional SIS enough to meet the unique needs of non-credit units and non-traditional learners?
Problems with a Traditional Student Information System in Continuing Education
A traditional SIS has been designed to meet the needs of full-time, degree-seeking students following a semester-based academic calendar. In comparison, PCO units deal with a more diverse audience in demographics and needs. While a traditional SIS excels in handling core administrative processes such as course registration, grading, and transcript management in these semester-based settings, they might fall short in continuing education settings:
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Non-Credit program structure: Courses and training progression are often measured in work hours rather than credits. Traditional SIS are built to handle credit-based programs and struggle to adapt to the flexible scheduling and varied durations of non-credit courses. This inflexibility makes it difficult to track progress and completion accurately in non-credit formats. |
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Access and identification: Traditional SIS’s are built-for a long, for-credit enrollment process that is too heavy handed for a lot of PCO programs. Additionally, traditional SIS’s assign learners institutional identities that grant access to unnecessary information, posing security risks. |
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B2B and B2C enrollments: Traditional SIS’s are designed to manage individual student enrollments rather than organizational enrollments, lacking the flexibility to handle group enrollments from corporate clients (B2B), enrollments where the learner is not the person paying for access to the course, or to support individual enrollments (B2C) with the same level of flexibility and automation required by continuing education programs. |
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Stackable credentials: Traditional SIS’s are structured around linear, semester-based degree programs with rigid pathways, making it difficult to support stackable credentials’ modular and flexible nature. Stackable credentials require systems that can track and integrate various short-term courses, certifications, and micro-credentials into a cohesive learning pathway. Traditional SIS’s lack the flexibility to manage these non-linear education models, which are essential for lifelong learning. |
Given the differing needs of PCO units and their constituents, one solution is to opt for an SIS or registration solution that is tailored to the needs of continuing education. A continuing education SIS should be designed to handle the flexible structures of non-credit programs, support both B2B and B2C enrollments, facilitate stackable credentials, and seamlessly integrate with other institutional systems to decrease administrative workload. Having a SIS tailored for continuing education ensures a more efficient management of continuing education programs and a better non-traditional learner experience, ultimately leading to increased engagement, retention, and revenue for the institution.
The Importance of a Continuing Education Student Information System
Given the challenges of using a traditional SIS in continuing education, the importance of a dedicated Continuing Education SIS becomes clear. A Continuing Education SIS manages the business of PCO units in a way that a traditional one-size-fits-all SIS was not designed to handle. In addition to facilitating the administration of non-degree programs, a continuing education SIS provides an e-commerce-like environment where prospective students can search, enroll, and pay for non-degree courses on the go.
By seamlessly integrating the SIS with your institution’s website and LMS, you can offer a more engaging experience that increases engagement and retention. Once a learner enrolls and pays for a non-degree course, the SIS should directly grant them access to the course materials in the learning management system. This ensures a smooth transition from the first visit to a website through payment and starting a course. Upon completing the course, the system should also facilitate the issuance of certificates, recognizing the learner’s achievements.
Implementing continuing education registration software, or SIS, transforms your PCO unit’s digital experience. It converts and engages non-traditional learners while decreasing the administrative burden on your staff. This transformation leads to happy non-traditional learners and sustainable revenue, as the streamlined process and modern e-commerce-like experience attract and retain more learners.
What are the Differences Between Continuing Education SIS and a Traditional SIS?
Today’s learners are looking for constant opportunities to upskill themselves through flexible courses and programs that will fit their busy schedules. A Continuing Education SIS is tailored to meet the unique needs of non-traditional learners and PCO units, whereas a traditional SIS often falls short. Here’s a detailed comparison:
Feature |
Continuing Education SIS |
Traditional SIS |
|---|---|---|
Course offerings |
Built for a broader set of course formats, offering stackable pathways and personalized learning programs. |
Built to serve degree-oriented programs with a fixed curriculum primarily. Learners have a hard-set start date and pre-determined schedule. Institutions have less flexibility in mode of delivery. |
Flexibility |
Learners can pick flexible starting dates and learn at their own pace. Institutions can offer modalities ranging from fully online to fully on-campus, and everything in between. | Learners have a hard-set start date and pre-determined schedule. Institutions have less flexibility in mode of delivery. |
Enrollment & Order |
Offers a modern e-commerce experience where learners can search for courses, enroll, and pay online, gaining immediate access to the learning environment, all in one go. | A more complex and time-consuming process to enroll in a course, students typically must meet set enrollment criteria to get admitted and have a delayed access to the course. |
Integrations |
Seamlessly integrates with an institutional website, learning management systems, and other digital tools to provide a streamlined learner journey. |
Often lacks integration with various tools and platforms, leading to a more fragmented learner experience. |
B2B and B2C enrollments |
In addition to individual learners, it supports bulk enrollments and corporate partnerships (B2B), making it easy to manage training for large groups from a single organization. | Designed for individual enrollments, with limited capabilities to handle bulk or corporate enrollments efficiently. |
Promoting Lifelong Learning and Driving Revenue with a Continuing Education SIS
Non-traditional learners expect a smooth and engaging modern learner experience that a traditional SIS fails to deliver. This leads to a fragmented learner experience and drives students to seek alternative options. It is clear now that a standard traditional SIS does not work well in continuing education settings. A Continuing Education SIS will help your continuing education institution:
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Increase non-traditional learner conversion: The learner journey often starts with your public-facing online course catalog. Drive enrollments with an on-brand course catalog built on your institution’s website, where learners can complete course registration & payment at their convenience. |
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Automate repetitive tasks and increase staff efficiency: Redirect your staff’s time and energy where it’s most needed – delivering the best possible modern learner experience. Empower staff to work more efficiently with a single system to manage student & course management, reducing manual work through templates and automation. |
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Offer modern learner experience and retain learners: Learners seek intuitive and personalized experiences that align with their busy lives. Engage and enroll more learners by leveraging their preferences to show the right offerings at the right time. A continuing education SIS provides learners with personalized learning pathways and intuitive digital experiences, fostering a culture of lifelong learning and driving learner retention. |
As higher education institutions expand to serve adult learners and their needs, evaluating the efficacy of your current SIS is crucial. With an ever-increasing number of non-traditional learners and growing numbers of non-credit programs at institutions, a traditional SIS could be a blocker to sustainably scaling your PCO offering.
It becomes critical to prioritize a continuing education SIS that meets the needs of non-traditional learners. Having continuing education registration software in place helps scale the continuing education business without the increased administrative burden that comes with a traditional SIS.
Learn how continuing education registration software can help you grow your continuing education department and convert more learners.
