Higher education is changing rapidly. As budgets tighten and learner expectations diversify, institutions are expanding micro-credentials, prerequisites, and non-degree offerings to reach new audiences and stabilize revenue. This has created a fast-growing population of external learners seeking stand-alone, prepaid, open-enrollment courses—without committing to a full program.

The challenge? Most institutions lack the time or infrastructure to build a shopping cart or non-degree registration system.

At PLNU, we faced this directly. External enrollments were once minimal, but two initiatives quickly changed the landscape: the Anatomy Learning Institute, enrolling 100+ learners per term, and a Nazarene Course of Study partnership adding another 100+ learners each semester. Both launched rapidly—with no cart, no non-degree SIS pathway, and no time for custom development.

The solution: a creative, high-impact use of the TargetX Event System.

This session demonstrates how the often underutilized Event architecture can be transformed into a scalable Open Enrollment engine supporting course selection, registration, and payment—without custom code or new systems. This approach is not unique to PLNU. Any institution can adopt this model now to support revenue growth, workforce needs, and non-traditional learners. Join us to learn how.