Distance Program Services
University of Florida’s Distance Education Service Center is a trusted, full-service partner to help you manage the complete student lifecycle: from attracting interest through retention.
Combining the best resources, training, and perspectives that only UF can provide, with the incentives and scalable model of an outside vendor, DESC offers an essential, unique perspective to your program and prospective student that no other partner can provide.
increase in completed applications
increase in website pageviews (comparing 3-month average year-over-year)
increase in new students enrolled (year-over-year)
As trusted partners, we work with online graduate programs in a range of disciplines, no matter what their goals are – whether that is to increase program exposure and lead generation, improve and increase quality enrollments, or improve retention rates. DESC works with programs on short- and long-term goals, formulates milestones, and then gets to work.
Our team of marketing experts, multimedia specialists, content creators and data artists work collaboratively with you on a strategy that aligns with your goals. You are the expert in your field and program, and conversations about your program and ideas is where we start. We utilize your insight and combine it with our know-how and resources for a partnership that can only be created at UF.
Got an idea? Great. Let’s get started on a comprehensive marketing plan that includes printed brochures, a website, a digital brochure, social media channels, promotional video, and digital adverting. Data supports our direction at specific milestones, so we know if our message is delivering online.
Plus, we love expanding into new areas. Reddit Ask Me Anythings, hosting webinars, podcasts, pitching articles, and more – if it supports your goals, we’ll give it the Gator effort it deserves.
We tailor our recruitment approach to each partnering program's needs. Since we are located on the University of Florida campus, we have the unique ability to immerse our team in our partner program. During the onboarding process, our team gets to know your program, the students, and the faculty. This allows our Application Coordinators and Student Support Specialist to understand your ideal student persona in order to deliver the highest-quality students to your program.
With every conversation, our team builds meaningful relationships with prospective students and coaches applicants through the department's application or enrollment process. In addition, we collect data on each student interaction to deliver a personalized experience to each student. At the end of each recruitment cycle, our team provides your department with the necessary applicant information for admissions review.
Once admitted, each student's success is still our goal. Beginning with a smooth on-boarding to UF through support each semester with course registration, our coordinators continue supporting students through the lifecycle of their program. We build and maintain relationships as an extension of the Gator Nation, so that no matter where they are located, they feel connected to campus.
This outreach is tracked and shared with our partnering programs in detailed reports.