ERIC Number: ED330384
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1991-Feb
Pages: 29
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
A Cluster Analysis of the 1985-1989 Non-Credit Student Body: Implementing Geo-Demographic Marketing at P.G.C.C., Part II. Market Analysis MA91-5.
Boughan, Karl
In an effort to better market the college's programs and services, Prince George's Community College (PGCC), Maryland, has employed its own tracking system which utilizes a socioeconomic segmentation of their serviceable target population. This approach utilizes U.S. Census data grouping neighborhoods into natural socioeconomic, cultural, and lifestyle "clusters" for which special marketing strategies can be developed. In 1990, a geo-demographic cluster analysis was conducted of county resident students who attempted at least one non-credit course at PGCC during the 5-year period from 1990. Twenty-three socioeconomic classifications were developed for the 36,725 students (56% of the original pool) analyzed. The 23 clusters were subsequently collapsed into 8 larger groups referred to as "super-clusters." To better assess which students were attracted to which types of courses, the 2,000 non-credit courses offered during the period under study were classified by subject matter interest area, and grouped into seven "product themes" (PT's). Study results revealed the following: (1) the upper middle-class, professional cluster showed preference for lifestyle and entrepreneurial PT's; (2) the wealthy, hyper-educated cluster was drawn toward the creative and high-tech PT's; (3) the lower middle-class, inner-suburban cluster showed preference for trades and crafts courses, with a small interest in career exploration PT's; and (4) the largely black, inner-suburban, and near-to-middle class cluster tended to prefer entrepreneurial, high-tech, and home and office PT's. Data tables are appended. (GFW)
Descriptors: Cluster Analysis, Community Colleges, Continuing Education, Course Selection (Students), Institutional Research, Marketing, Models, Noncredit Courses, Population Distribution, Residential Patterns, Socioeconomic Influences, Socioeconomic Status, Student Interests, Student Recruitment, Two Year College Students, Two Year Colleges
Publication Type: Reports - Research; Numerical/Quantitative Data
Education Level: N/A
Audience: Researchers
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: Prince George's Community Coll., Largo, MD. Office of Institutional Research and Analysis.
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A