Since 2006, California Miramar University has been providing affordable, high quality education for tomorrow’s business leaders. We had a chance to talk with Chief Operations Officer Jean Foster about the challenges and rewards of working in this important industry.
California Miramar University is fairly new to the higher education field. How did you find your niche so quickly?
We believe that a blend of international students and domestic students will be our niche. Since we have just received our ability to issue international student visas for our international students, we are still waiting to find the exact formula that will allow us to grow and become the institution we want to be.
The ability to issue student visas should be a major asset to your school. Was there any major trouble getting to that point?
Governmental red tape delayed our ability to issue student grants and loans and international student visas. But thankfully now we have successfully jumped through all the hoops. We can offer student grants/loans and accept students on international student visas. We are very excited!
That is very exciting! Would you say that governmental regulation has been the biggest challenge you’ve encountered so far?
There are over 400 schools in the USA that offer MBA programs. We operate off revenue, not outside investors, which means we do not have the financial capital to spend on expensive marketing. The biggest challenge has been getting the word out about our unique offering of affordable MBA programs with small classes and dedicated faculty. Word of mouth is our best source of new students. We know with time that our happy students and alumni will share with their friends and colleagues about the “best kept secret in higher education – CMU” and one day it will not be a secret.
What have you been doing so far to get the word out about your program?
SEO, print, internet marketing, social media… but most of our new students come from word of mouth. We know our students are very happy because they write positive reviews on google and other sites, plus they tell their friends and colleagues, so word of mouth has been our best source of marketing.
Student satisfaction is a great recommending factor! Where do you see increased traffic from word of mouth taking you in the next few years?
We’d like to increase the number of international students within the next year and build student enrollment using our Title IV and Title 38 population in the next five years.
California Miramar University is certainly on track to continue its growth in the future. For more information about the school and its offerings, visit www.calmu.edu.
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