Most universities launch online degree programs backwards. A dean sees competitors offering an online AI program, the course already exists, and enrollment and marketing are handed a finished product and told to sell it. The result is often years of expensive advertising chasing a product-market fit that never comes.
In this solo episode of The Enrollment Clinic, host Gjergj Dollani lays out a step-by-step framework for launching an online program the way consumer packaged goods brands launch products: validate the market first, then build everything else around the student.
You’ll learn:
* How to validate market demand by starting with jobs, employers, salaries, and regional growth
* How to tell whether a “blue ocean” market is untapped or a graveyard where competitors already failed
* How to size the enrollment funnel backwards, from starts to deposits, admits, applications, and leads, and set cost-per-start limits before you spend
* Why speed to lead is the deciding factor in online enrollment, and why your admissions operation needs dedicated online staff
* Which application requirements create friction for adult learners, and how to test removing them one cohort at a time
* Why “admitted” doesn’t mean “enrolled,” and how to reduce summer melt and pre-start drop-off
* Why your first cohort should be treated as a test year for setting KPIs
Plus, one exercise you can do this week: pick a struggling or upcoming program and write its funnel backwards. If the numbers don’t add up, you’ve found your next leadership conversation.
For enrollment managers, admissions directors, VPs of enrollment and marketing, online program leaders, and deans building adult and online learner programs.
*Chapters:*
00:00 Why online programs get launched backwards
03:30 Validating the market: is it really a blue ocean?
04:40 Starting with jobs, employers, and regional demand
06:30 Sizing up competition and pricing
08:00 Adult learners vs. traditional students: the decision timeline
10:00 Doing the P&L math and building the funnel backwards
12:30 Building an online admissions operation: speed to lead
16:50 Removing friction from the application process
21:10 Admitted isn’t enrolled: closing the gap to day one
23:30 The first cohort as a test year
26:20 Your action item for this week
Views expressed are my own and do not represent any employer or client.
*Keywords/tags:* online degree program launch, online program development, higher education enrollment, enrollment marketing, adult learners, speed to lead, enrollment funnel, admissions strategy, online learning, higher ed marketing, cost per start, summer melt
