When prospective students visit your institution’s Web site or check out one of your brochures, what images do they see?

Odds are there’s a prominent photo of teenaged or 20-something students.

But with the anticipated surge of baby boomers returning to college, higher ed institutions may want to rethink their marketing strategies.

Because the surge is coming. The most recent numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show that from 2006 to 2016 there will be:

• a 36.5% increase in workers ages 55 to 64, and
• an 81% increase in workers 65 and older.

When you toss a down economy into the mix, older adults are going to be looking for training and retraining.  And this will have an impact on higher ed institutions – particularly community colleges.

So what you’re left to consider is this: When 50-year-old adults look at a campus photo filled with students the same ages as (or younger than) their own children, will they be interested in enrolling – or feel out-of-touch and intimidated?

Do you have a marketing strategy aimed at older students? Let us know in the comments section below.

Tags: baby boomers, Enrollment, marketing, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics