Describing Your Target Student: Quality Standards

Why is the Target Student section important?

The descriptions you write in the Target Student section will help students decide if your course is right for them. Additionally, since this information sets the right expectations for students, it can help improve your course's rating when students review the course.

What you need to know

When completing the Target Student section, you want to ensure that:

• You have a specific target audience in mind, because the more specific your course is, the better it will do in the marketplace.
• Your audience will learn specific skills that they didn’t already have.
• What you report they will learn or achieve through the course is realistic and achievable.
• You are setting the right expectations; the course will actually deliver on these goals.

Remember, we do check for this as part of our Quality Review Process.

Minimum requirements to pass our Quality Review Process

• Fill out each of the prompts (they cannot be left blank).
• At least three, “What You’ll Learn” objectives.
• Don’t use generic terms e.g., the course is meant for “everyone”.
• Don’t use the space for marketing to students.

In this article we will also cover:

• Best practices for targeting your student
• Examples of good targets that have been set for students

Best practices for describing your Target Student

Target Student examples

How do you complete the Target Student section?

Learn how to describe your target student.