What are the management issues in recruitment and admissions?

In the recruitment process applicants and potential applicants must be provided information about courses and the implications of undertaking a distance learning program. This can be done through brochures, telephone hot lines, computer-based information services, or personal meetings with advisers provided by the institution.

The admissions process requires many management decisions. One of the most significant for an institution is whether to admit students in cohorts or as individuals. Students admitted in cohorts begin instruction, are provided materials, and take examinations all at the same time. Admitting cohorts is therefore more efficient than admitting students individually and allowing them to begin and proceed at their own pace.

Another important decision is whether to allow open admissions or to admit only candidates who can show that they have achieved a certain performance standard. Institutions that allow open admission without demanding prerequisite knowledge have to invest more than others in preadmission counseling and remedial instruction, and they must deal with the stresses and administrative costs of higher rates of student withdrawal.

A third decision is whether to discriminate in tuition fee levels. Charging different fees to different students increases administrative costs, as does supporting study by unemployed or disabled people, rectifying gender or other social imbalances in certain professions, or favoring certain geographic areas.

More resources on recruitment and admissions

Aggrey Memorial College. 1999.  Aggrey Memorial College (Tuition by
Correspondence) Prospectus