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Ocean County College Contracts Out Recruitment and Retention To Drive Online Growth

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 07/06/11

Ocean County College, which is looking to triple its distance learning enrollment numbers, is turning to an outside service provider to help with its online recruitment and retention efforts. The New Jersey two-year college has signed on with ESM, a contact center that caters to education. In May 2011, the institution announced it was contracting with Pearson eCollege for use of LearningStudio, its online learning management system. This latest business process outsourcing endeavor will help Ocean with recruitment and retention efforts specifically for its online students.

Until now, the college offered individual online courses. Now it will be implementing full online degree programs with the expectation that it will grow from 7,000 enrollments to 21,000 enrollments over the next five years.

ESM, which has its headquarters in Colorado, offers services for students that address retention, career placement, and financial counseling. It also provides analytics services for schools to manage student loan exposure. The company is expected to work with Ocean specifically to grow enrollments and support students from their initial inquiry through their learning experiences.

"Our partnership with Pearson and ESM is key to helping us deliver a high growth, rigorous and quality online learning program," said college President Jon Larson. "Not only will our students have greater access to affordable online opportunities, but they also will receive an increased level of support throughout their education in order to make sure their needs are being met at each and every stage."

"Online students often have more outside responsibilities and pressures that can impact their ability to graduate," said ESM CEO Doug Kelsall. "Ocean County College is taking the right steps to not only make sure they are delivering the kinds of programs that students need, but that they are providing the technology and services that will position students for success. More students will be able to achieve their academic and career goals because of the college's vision."