Ardeo News
Our new Vice President of Campus Partnerships, Beth Clarke, answered a few Q & A questions about her enrollment experience and why LRAPs are important for campuses today. Explore more about Beth and her experiences below, as well as in her bio.
Getting to Know Beth
Q: What first drew you to higher education—and what has kept you in the field?
I started working as an admission counselor at my alma mater, Virginia Wesleyan University, right after graduation. My major was communications and I was interested in public relations, so I thought, what better public relations gig than to represent the place you’ve loved for the last four years? I was energized by meeting students and families, and, over time, I came to appreciate the analytics and problem-solving opportunities that also come with enrollment leadership roles.
Now that I have moved from the campus-side to the enrollment partnership-side, I’m enjoying the ability to help a variety of different institutions solve the same challenges I faced when I was in their seat. By helping colleges who are helping students and families find the right fit institution that will satisfy their future career aspirations (and provide students with a transformational experience along the way), I feel like my higher ed journey has come full circle. I get to celebrate the wins of many colleges each year instead of just one. It’s a great feeling!
Experience & Perspective
Q: Students and families are increasingly concerned about college cost, debt and return on investment. How are those concerns changing enrollment conversations?
Students and families are increasingly concerned about college cost, debt and return on investment. How are those concerns changing enrollment conversations?
It used to be that we would talk about cost much later in the enrollment funnel and students and families were fine with waiting to figure out the specifics on how they would make the finances work. That’s not the case anymore – students and families are ruling out colleges as early as their sophomore year (and sometimes even earlier!) based on their perceived ability to afford them. This means that private institutions are at a distinct disadvantage early and are often not even included for consideration. And since the return on investment of college is now questioned more than ever in recent history, public four-year institutions are also facing cost concerns from students and families who think it will serve them better to go straight into a trade or to start at a 2-year school.
The onus is now on colleges and universities to explain the return on investment early and often, and to help students and families fully understand their options for loans and repayment. That’s part of why I’m excited to join the Ardeo team; we can be a crucial part of the repayment conversation with students and families and give them the piece of mind they need to take student and parent loans. At the same time, we help colleges and universities show their value, which in turn helps them grow enrollment and stay relevant.
Ardeo Impact & Strategy
Q: Why should campuses offer LRAPs to their students?
Many campuses are struggling to get students to consider their college or commit after acceptance because there is a perception that the cost is too high or that they will need to take out student/parent loans that they won’t have the means to repay after graduation. By offering an LRAP to their students, campuses can address that fear in a way that is beneficial both for the student (they now have a repayment safety net at no cost to them) and for the campus (they can attract students to their campus who wouldn’t have considered them without the LRAP offer). Ardeo is able to illustrate the return on investment by gathering data on the students who wouldn’t have attended without the LRAP offer and show that, on average, partners are experiencing a 5-6x ROI. When I was on campus as a VPE, there were very few partners who could directly illustrate that ROI to me and my team. LRAPs are a win for students and a win for campus!
Personal & Fun
Q: What’s something your colleagues might be surprised to learn about you?
My maternal grandmother grew up in Key West, FL. Back when she lived there, it was still a small fishing village of “Conchs” who had very little connection to mainland Florida. She would tell me stories about the exotic fruit trees in all the yards of her neighborhood street, and how everyone would share avocados, key limes and oranges, to name a few, with each other. She and her friends would run around the entire island in one day and catch their own fish for dinner. I credit her idyllic childhood to her longevity; she lived to be 101. My faith, character and interests were shaped by her, and I feel blessed to have spent so much of my life learning from her and receiving her love and wisdom.
