“Course Shopping” Study Reinforces

Benefit of Enrolling Students by Program of Interest

Angela Januzzi

August 21, 2007 

Concerned about the stability of student success and it relationship to consistent course scheduling, a recent Texas law is placing limits on how frequently students are permitted to add or drop classes at the state’s public colleges. Incidentally, accompanying the law is the release of substantial study on student behavior.

Published in The Journal of Higher Education and primarily authored by Linda Serra Hagedorn, the study follows a Los Angeles college district and suggests course-shopping is consistently widespread. The term “course shopping” refers to students’ feverish adding and dropping of classes during the designated period allotted by each individual school.

While the study shows that not all patterns of course-shopping are detrimental to student success, the results do demonstrate the value of aiming to enroll prospective students who have specific areas of interest. When marketing to prospective students, understanding their field of interest and desired programs is a primary component in increasing retention.

Using direct response enrollment marketing, schools can identify which courses and programs are their most valuable, and then hone-in on those students interested in those areas. Course-shopping decreases, retention increases, and student success rates become more consistent. 

Source: Jaschik, Scott. “Course Shopping and Its Meaning.” www.insidehighered.com. Posted: August 21, 2007.