Education.  In their opinion the gainful employment rule is expected to be excluded from next

week’s education proposal.   The article outlines that the Office of Management and Budget

included a note in the Federal Register concluding that the DOE’s proposed program integrity

rules could have a major economic impact, a designation that would require the DOE to

strengthen the evidence necessary to justify the need for the regulation.  Furthermore, the article mentions

that the designation is believed to be a major reason why the DOE has (according to reports

from several sources Thursday, though unconfirmed by department officials directly) decided

to omit the gainful employment proposal from the proposed regulations expected to be

released next week.  This if the outcome follows the assumption will bring smiles to many of the faces I saw at last

weeks CCA.  Lets hope!

e look forward to catching up with many of you.

 If you are going to the CCA in June and are interested in attending an event with ForProfitEDU please email us to get on the list: info@forprofitedu.com

Please include your name, email address, position & firm.

Also, if you are with a company who is interested in participating with us at this event please inquire.

Clearly there were some negative comments made from former employees of a few schools, but overall the segment appeared not completely biased.  What is clear is the necessity and role the for-profit play in helping America again reach the goal of being the nation with the highest college graduation rate.  For-profits spend much more on marketing and utilize more aggressive admissions tactics, but clearly it is what’s needed to gain the attention and help drive the decision to go to college for a growing sector of the population which are not well suited to traditional institutions. 

Other than a few bad employees, some questionable tuition cost benefit equations at a few institutions and some programs of questionable value,  the industry as a whole is providing a beneficial service to the under-served segment of our population. 

I would hope that what comes out of the Govt. sessions addresses only the problems specifically and helps pave way to increased growth opportunity for the majority of the quality institutions.  Using a machete instead of a pair of pruning sheers would be a huge mistake, which would backfire on the educational goals we all share…

Take the poll: http://polls.linkedin.com/p/84145/rjuwj and comment.

• That lead generators don’t contact/interact with the student prospects
• The the entire process is driven by the prospective student choosing and requesting
• That non-profits buy data on people who aren’t aware and the directly market them
• That the vendors are not in any way involved in the enrollment process
• That the education directories provide a valuable free service for prospective students
• That the lead generators have created much more outreach promoting education

Schools seem to think that if lead gen CPL has to either go away or change that CPC cost per click will remain…that doesn’t make any sense to me as ultimately the value of a click can be identified by conversions just as the value of a lead.  However, many mention that Google CPC is different as they set the price.  Other schools feel that placement fees/clotting fee will become the new normal. 

What do you think?

I have heard most if not all of the arguments & viewpoints against the way for-profit schools market.  I have heard all of the name calling, the comparison to the subprime lenders, the predatory marketing tactics, the hundreds of millions being spent by schools and the deceptive/ misleading advertising practices.  For an uneducated or ill-informed individual,  it’s easy to see how some jump on the bandwagon.  However, let us not forget that whenever one listens to only one side of a story or argument it’s easy to fall into alignment.  What bothers me, in addition to the one-sided arguments being made, is the complete lack of thinking things thru.  The fact that some elected officials are too quick to make changes, many simply for change sake, is just news-bite governing.    When did we all of a sudden decide to switch to a fast break style government?  When did ready fire aim become the best practices promoted by some leaders within the department of education.  Is it really reform if the changes that result backfire on the ultimate goal?    Why don’t people think things thru anymore?  What about the ripple effects caused by these aggressive proposed changes?  I thought one of our top goals as a country was to increase the percentage of Americans with a college degree?  Shouldn’t government work to improve the advancement opportunities for those who need it most.  I am all for closing any firm or firms who are systematically practicing & promoting non-compliance, fraud or deception, I am not however in favor or thoughtless knee jerk decision making that effects an entire industry.

 I was a Political Science Major and a logic minor in college.  Talk about an internal conflict within one’s own education…  It’s sad that in today’s screwed up political climate it seems like an either/ or equation, do I want to be in politics or do I want to be a logical person!

How is it that schools spending large sums of money on advertising are determined to be doing something bad?  What about the reinforcement value of the “go to college”  messaging, the education awareness they generate, and the outreach into areas not targeted by tradition schools?

 Why is it bad for lead providers to provide prospective education seekers with non-incentivized compliance approved forms for individuals to request information directly from schools who want to talk to them about potentially becoming a student.  Isn’t that a value?  

 It’s Interesting that you never hear about the positive aspects resulting from the unprecedented awareness created from the influx of educational advertising over the last decade. 

Here is one:

Recent Pew research center study:

 The most detailed study to date of the 18- to 29-year-old Millennial generation finds this group probably will be the most educated in American history. But the 50 million Millennials also have the highest share who are unemployed or out of the workforce in almost four decades, according to the study, released today by the Pew Research Center.

Pew’s analysis includes its own data, such as a new survey of 2,020 adults, including 830 Millennials, conducted by landline and cell phone last month. It also analyzes data from other sources, such as the Census, which shows 40% of those 18-24 were in college in 2008, a higher percentage than any previous generation at those ages.

**

So if you are a misguided politician you read the above excerpt and say: 

See those for profit schools are suckering more people to go to college than ever before, and if those people weren’t suckered into getting a degree they would not have any student loans…  Also, what good is a degree, look at their graduates, they are unemployed…

I would argue that obtaining a college degree is not ever a bad idea!  I would also argue that they are unemployed because of the current economic debacle we are currently facing. 

A logical person however may read the same excerpt and say:  

Wow, I am glad to see the increase in college educated people within the most recent generation, hey maybe it’s because of all the increased awareness resulting from the influx of advertising to those people over the last decade or maybe from the outreach from the proactive colleges.  It’s unfortunate to see so many of them unemployed, but then again over 10% of our country is unemployed, the economy sucks.    

Anonymous

Mark Kantrowitz has written a piece that’s worthwhile reading.  Click the link below to view Marks piece:

http://www.finaid.org/educators/20100301gainfulemployment.pdf

LeadsCon Las Vegas 2010 takes place February 23rd and February 24, 2010. Join for two full days of unforgettable learning and unparalleled networking.

Register: http://www.leadscon.com/leadscon-las-vegas-2010/register.html

Sparkroom provides business intelligence and lead delivery software that helps organizations immediately improve marketing efficiency and increase profitability by managing, measuring, and optimizing lead performance across all direct response marketing channels. Sparkroom's Lead Performance Management product suite, which includes LeadDeliver, LeadIQ, and Lead Market Analytics, enables direct marketers in higher education to:

   -- Understand the performance of every lead, regardless of the channel 

   -- Proactively manage lead vendors 

   -- Align marketing with sales or enrollment targets 

   -- Immediately improve the performance of marketing spend

“We are excited by the opportunities created by bringing CUnet and Sparkroom together,” said Matt McLaughlin, President of CUnet. “Sparkroom's technology products will complement CUnet's interactive media and marketing services to provide a powerful solution for colleges to drive the most value from their marketing spend. It's a great fit that will benefit marketers in the higher education sector.”

CUnet provides clients with a wide range of performance marketing services including vendor lead management, call center management, search marketing, display advertising, social media management, mobile marketing, and school operations consulting. Sparkroom's Lead Performance Management product suite provides comprehensive technology tools to education marketers, allowing them to make faster, data-driven decisions that drive marketing efficiency and business profitability. The companies will offer an industry-leading mix of marketing services and technology solutions for educational institutions from a single provider.

“Sparkroom's mission is to enable our customers to optimize their investments in interactive direct response marketing,” said Jamie McDonald, CEO of Sparkroom. “By teaming up with CUnet, we will accelerate our ability to deliver on that mission and bring new ground-breaking products to the market, which will continue to improve marketing efficiency for higher education marketers.”

Sparkroom co-founders McDonald and Jamie Shulman, Vice President of Operations, will continue to lead Sparkroom and its associates from Toronto.

While the purchase price is not material to Nelnet, the acquisition adds strategic value to the company by broadening its lead generation products and services business and further strengthens its lead generation technology.

About CUnet

CUnet is the premier provider of online performance media and interactive marketing services driving qualified student inquiries and enrollments for the higher education industry. Founded in 2003, the company has grown rapidly to oversee the promotional campaigns of over 1 000 colleges, universities, and career schools throughout the United States and Canada. CUnet is dedicated to creating cost-effective marketing programs using a mix of online media strategies and formats to find prospective students, generate qualified responses, and maximize enrollments and starts. CUnet is a subsidiary of Nelnet, a leader in education planning and financing for more than 30 years. CUnet is based in Paramus, NJ. For more information, visit www.cunet.com.

About Sparkroom

Sparkroom delivers innovative solutions to direct marketers, including its comprehensive Lead Performance Management software and services. Sparkroom Lead Deliver, Lead IQ, and Lead Market Analytics deliver a hosted business intelligence platform to give direct response marketers the tools and expertise needed to measure, manage, and optimize their lead acquisition spending across every direct response channel. Sparkroom's software, which it hosts and delivers to its customers on demand, enables customers to capture, store, and analyze information generated by their lead buying activities and to gain critical business insights into the performance and efficiency of marketing and sales initiatives and other business processes. Founded in 2007, Sparkroom is privately held. For more information, visit www.sparkroom.com.

Information contained in this press release, other than historical information, may be considered forward-looking in nature and is subject to various risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those anticipated, estimated, or expected. Among the key factors that may have a direct bearing on Nelnet's operating results, performance, or financial condition expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements are the uncertain nature of the expected benefits from the acquisition and the ability to successfully integrate operations, changes in terms of student loans and the educational credit marketplace changes in the demand for educational financing or in financing preferences of educational institutions, students and their families, or changes in the general interest rate environment and in the securitization markets for education loans.

(code #: nnig)

SOURCE Nelnet Inc.

/CONTACT: Media, Ben Kiser, +1-402-458-3024; Investors, Phil Morgan, +1-402-458-3038; both of Nelnet Inc.

/Web site: http://www.nelnet.com