What is Aperture

As colleges and universities around the country face increasing budget challenges, pressure mounts for a more retail-based approach to education, where the needs of students and the ability of institutions to fulfill them are clearly defined. This article presents a case study of a successful digital photography curriculum for adult learners at a large school district in Southern California. The curriculum represents a retail-based approach to education grounded in meeting the needs of students, expanding their zest for learning and providing new educational opportunities. This approach rests on proven concepts of retail marketing woven into the fabric of the learning experience: Give people what they want and they will keep coming back; expand their universe of wants and you will have a customer for life. The article concludes that even with shrinking budgets, rising costs and a dwindling traditional student population, course curricula can be designed for student enrichment, program growth and ongoing institutional success.