This month's featured client is Excelsior College whose innovative approach to higher education for the adult learner fills a need that is growing in this mobile economy. Excelsior College is an accredited, recognized leader in removing obstacles to the educational goals of the adult learner, providing efficient and affordable access to higher education through multiple avenues to degree completion. Synergies has been working with Excelsior since 2009 on a variety of initiatives including establishing a presence in the nation's capital, promoting recognition of its nursing program and building awareness of the Excelsior model among area employers.

 

Excelsior College, formerly Regents College of New York, was created in 1971 to serve adults who may have moved from place to place, such as those in the military and others working for companies who transferred them to various locations. Excelsior began by testing applicants for skills and knowledge acquired through life experience and also giving credit for courses taken at other institutions that fit into the requirements for a degree. Unlike many other institutions, Excelsior does not place a maximum on credits taken at other accredited colleges. That means that a person can earn a degree without starting over each time he or she changes institutions. This is important in our increasingly mobile society. This adult-learner assessment program was Excelsior's first innovation.

Today, Excelsior College offers many more innovations. Excelsior provides online instruction for the associate's, bachelor's and master's degrees. Additionally, Excelsior offers many non-credit programs that prepare people for well-paying jobs.

Excelsior also has relationships with many community colleges which allow students to stay at their college beyond their associate's degrees to take appropriate and available courses leading to a bachelor's degree. Since so many adult learners work today, this saves time and money while keeping the learner on track to achieve a degree.

Another important service of this non-profit, adult worker-oriented college, is building corporate relationships. Corporate partners can take advantage of discounted rates for Excelsior's programs, and provide options to their employees, both acknowledging their expertise and advising them of a path to the next level. Synergies is working with area employers to build awareness of these time-saving and money-saving partnerships.  

 

There is more! To learn more about this unique and highly-regarded college, check its website,  www.excelsior.edu or call one of the Synergies Consulting Group partners to find out how Excelsior can benefit your employees and you.

 

Synergies Partners Barbara Lawson and Ann Gallant collaborated on a brief article that appears in the August Issues of The Business Monthly/Maryland Entrepreneur Quarterly. In this article, the authors advise "starting at the beginning" with a clear plan to build business name awareness and familiarity as part of the process of building a
loyal customer base. These same thoughts can be applied to building a donor base for non-profit institutions. Click here to read more about the Buyer Behavior Ladder and building loyalty.