Employer partnerships can help your institution do more. Are you building the right ones?

The right employer partnership can do a lot for a university. It can create new opportunities for students, respond to an employer’s talent and training needs, generate revenue, and open the door to a broader relationship across the institution.

Those opportunities matter even more now. Students and families are looking more closely at where a degree will lead, while employers are rethinking the talent and skills they need. This gives institutions an opening to strengthen both their value to students and their relevance to employers—but only if they are deliberate about where they invest their time and attention.

And that is where the opportunity gets more complicated. Not every employer relationship will create the same value, and pursuing more partnerships is not necessarily the same as building better ones.

So where should you focus first? Here are three ways to build stronger employer partnerships.

1. Start with the employers you already know

When institutions want to grow employer partnerships, they often start by looking outward. Which companies are expanding nearby? Where is new funding available? Who should we reach out to next?

Some of the strongest prospects, though, may already have a connection to the university. Students in professional programs have employers. Alumni work at companies across the region. Career services, advancement, research, and other units already manage corporate relationships. Looking across those connections can reveal employers that have both an existing relationship with the institution and the potential for a deeper one. 

Labor market intelligence can help narrow the list further by identifying employers with growing talent or skill needs. Together, internal data and external demand give institutions a better basis for deciding where to focus their time instead of chasing every promising opportunity. 

2. Be ready for the question “What are you good at?”

A company reaches out about working together, and eventually someone asks, “What is your university really good at?”. 

It is a simple question that can be surprisingly difficult to answer. Universities have academic programs, faculty expertise, research capabilities, training opportunities, and student talent spread across dozens of units. The employer does not need an inventory; they need to know which of those strengths can help them. 

EAB research finds that institutions often struggle to articulate that value clearly and quickly. Instead of waiting for an employer to define the partnership, institutions should be prepared to connect their distinctive strengths to the company’s needs—whether that means developing talent, training employees, or providing access to relevant expertise. Having that clarity before an employer reach out also helps institutions respond faster, rather than losing momentum while they determine what to offer or who needs to be involved. 

3. Give employers a go-to contact

Universities offer employers plenty of ways to engage. The problem is figuring out where to start. 

Recruiting may lead to career services, training to continuing education, philanthropy to advancement, and research to another office entirely. Those distinctions make sense inside the university, but an employer should not have to understand them to work with you. 

A single point of access can make the institution much easier to navigate. Account managers can help solve this by giving employers a consistent point of contact who can understand their needs and connect them with the right people across campus.  

Turn these practices into a partnership strategy 

Stronger employer partnerships start with knowing which relationships are worth pursuing, what your institution can bring to the table, and how to make it easier for employers to work with you.

For professional and continuing education leaders, EAB’s Professional and Adult Education Advisory Services can help identify best-fit employer opportunities, align offerings with workforce demand, and build the capabilities to develop and grow those relationships.

For cabinet leaders and leadership teams, EAB’s Strategic Advisory Services can help connect employer partnerships to broader institutional priorities—from workforce relevance and student outcomes to revenue growth and regional impact.

Chrysanthi Violaris

Senior Analyst, Strategic Research

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