RMIT University

RMIT Sought to Grow Enrollments in Online Postgraduate Degree Programs

Prior to partnering with Keypath Education, the university had few online postgraduate degree programs. The partnership would be responsible for selecting, designing, and launching the following six online postgraduate programs with embedded pathway programs:

• Master of Marketing
• Master of Human Resource Management
• Master of Supply Chain Management
• Master of Commerce
• Master of Engineering Management; and
• Graduate Diploma of Project Management.

The partnership would be launched under the newly created ‘RMIT Online’ entity, to scale more rapidly and to allow for a quick response to the changing market demand in the online space, while the division would leverage shared services with the main campus.

Throughout, there would be a focus on absolute quality in the student experience.

Six Fully Online Programs Launched in Record Time

Enter Keypath. A data-driven approach was taken utilizing the KeypathEDGE platform to develop data-informed, student-outcome-focused programs along with highly targeted go-to-market strategies. Through the KeypathEDGE Development and Design process, Keypath ensures the purposeful design of individual programs that meet the audience needs and skills-gap opportunities initially identified at the start of the partnership. The KeypathEDGE platform also includes an end-to-end marketing and recruitment approach, identifying and recruiting high-quality students for its programs.

The timeline was aggressive. The partnership agreement was signed in December 2015. RMIT was in market promoting the online programs by July, and the first intake of students commenced October 31, 2016. Keypath proactively hired Student Enrolment Advisors and Student Success Advisors to give plenty of time to prepare for launch and deliver a concierge enrolment service.

Record-Setting Results Followed Launch

The success of every partnership bears out in the numbers. RMIT and Keypath overachieved on enrolment projections by an average of 73 percent and built a healthy pipeline for future growth, proving it was possible to meet and exceed enrolment expectations while creating high-quality programs.

Performance can be attributed to the combination of many elements, all of them necessary, but team experience, brand recognition, commitment from university staff, admissions processes and systems, and proactive resourcing stand out among the top five differentiators of the RMIT and Keypath partnership.

Everyone involved rose to the challenge as a team, remained calm under pressure, and rallied around the goal of delivering a best-in-class student experience.

Programs Exceeded Enrollment Targets:

• Program 1: 116%
• Program 2: 53%
• Program 3: 221%
• Program 4: 329%
• Program 5: 59%