BRIDGING COLLEGE EXPECTATION GAPS AN INK WHITE PAPER OFFERING INSIGHTS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR COLLEGE MARKETERS

Transcription

1 BRIDGING COLLEGE EXPECTATION GAPS AN INK WHITE PAPER OFFERING INSIGHTS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR COLLEGE MARKETERS

2 COLLEGE HAS NEVER BEEN MORE ACCESSIBLE. BUT DECIDING WHICH SCHOOL IS BEST IS A DIFFICULT DECISION AND NEED BETTER GUIDANCE IN ORDER TO GET IT RIGHT. More high school graduates have applied for college in the last decade than ever before. In just seven short years, there will be more than 2.4 million annual college applicants. And while acceptance rates are encouraging, less than 60% of those who attend will actually complete their degree. 1 A number of factors contribute to that fact but, certainly, a large part of what drives that low number are the gaps between student expectations, universities understanding of those expectations and attendance realities. At INK, we wanted to better understand those gaps in order to provide insights to universities so they might better educate their prospective applicants and help them make the best college choice. In the end, the goal for both student and university is the same find the best school for the student. We recently surveyed 395 college intenders to understand what their expectations were about applying for and attending college. We then compared our findings to a number of recognized studies to compare those findings with actual behaviors and trends. What we found were five themes that college marketers will likely need to address in order to align expectations between students and institution.

3 1 MORE ARE GOING IT ALONE In the past, high school counselors were the primary source of information and guidance for college intenders. But, when asked who helped them through the college application process, nearly a third of our respondents said no one. Further, when broken down by ethnicity, a full 50% of Hispanic respondents reported that they conducted their search entirely by themselves. Given recent national student to counselor ratios of 475:1, it s easy to understand why many are left to go it alone. That ratio in California, by the way, is 818:1, the nation s worst. 2 COUNSELOR 1 NATIONAL COUNSELOR 1 CALIFORNIA TOTAL that didn t receive any help during the application process 32% 50% HISPANIC that didn t receive any help during the application process Universities need to fill the gap left by a lack of high school counselors and play a larger role in guiding students to the right choice.

4 2 CONTENT IS KING Not surprisingly, the primary resource for information gathering even responsive and dedicated to serving formatted content for and guidance has become the mobile users. That s alarming internet. Almost forty percent when you consider that nearly of our respondents said that 80% of students report that a their first action was to visit a college s website has a direct college website. Of course, affect on how they perceive an overwhelming majority of the institution. 3 Beyond the students will eventually complete format, universities also need to their search and application acknowledge how their target process online. It s important audience consumes information. to acknowledge that college It s no secret that video plays a websites have, in fact, become huge role in students lives, yet defacto digital counselors and few universities have leveraged serve as a primary influencer, video to explain important beginning at the very start of college aspects. a student s search. And nearly every marketer is well aware that, in order to effectively reach millennials, delivering dynamic content is key. But, it is also glaringly apparent that most college web experiences don t make the grade. Many sites aren t 40% of students started their search by visiting a college website. 418 Universities need to develop content based on sound student insights and deliver it in the most useful and compelling formats (mobile, video, etc.).

5 3 FIRST CHOICE SCHOOLS DON T NECESSARILY PAN OUT When asked how confident they were about getting into their first choice of schools, more than 70% of our respondents said they were either somewhat confident or very confident they would be accepted (Hispanics landed closer to 80%). And, when we compared actual acceptance rates to our data, we found that student expectations weren t that far off about 64% of college applicants are accepted to their first choice. The interesting finding, though, was that just better than half of those who are accepted to their first choice actually attend that school. 4 Somehow, students first choices were not necessarily the best or # of applications per student (3) (5-8) COLLEGEBOARD.COM recommended # to apply to most realistic. We also found that most of the students we surveyed only seriously considered two to three schools, leaving them little choice should their initial plan fall through. CollegeBoard.com encourages college applicants to apply to between five and eight different schools in order to cover all of their bases. First choice schools don t always pan out EXPECT TO BE ACCEPTED TO FIRST CHOICE 70% ACTUALLY ACCEPTED TO FIRST CHOICE 64% OF ACCEPTED, ATTEND FIRST CHOICE 59% Universities should not only vie for students first choice, but also position themselves as a less expensive, more practical second choice.

6 4 DON T HAVE A REALISTIC SENSE OF THE COST OF COLLEGE According to collegedata.com, when accounting for tuition, housing and books, the average cost to attend college annually is just north of $30,000, or $120,000 for a four-year program. 5 When survey recipients were asked how much they believed college to be, 63% believed it would be less than $50,000 total for the four-year program. This is gap is critically important to manage given that respondents also believed they would be paying for school by themselves either by working while in school, borrowing via a student loan or a combination of both. What s more, most survey respondents believed they would be able to pay back any outstanding loans within $50K 4 YEARS PERCEIVED COST $120K 4 YEARS ACTUAL COST COST OF COLLEGE four years. 5 But, according to a recent report in US News & World Report, the average college debt for a bachelor s degree graduate currently runs about $40,000 and will take borrowers nearly twentyone years to pay off entirely. Time it takes to repay a 4-year college loan EXPECTED 4 YRS ACTUAL 21 YRS Universities not only need to better disclose the cost of school, but also provide more solutions and resources to help students pay for it (beyond student loans).

7 5 WILL RELY ON TEACHERS MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE Of all the people that are potential resources for students in school (parents, counselors, peers, etc.) students in our survey reported that their teachers will probably be their most important resource in helping them to be successful throughout college. Surprisingly though, instructors are seldom promoted during the college application process. 18% COUNSELORS 26% FRIENDS 12% PARENTS 40% TEACHERS 4% OTHER Universities have an opportunity to profile instructors further upstream in the search process, building a degree of familiarity and making students more comfortable knowing that faculty is wholly dedicated to helping them be successful.

8 CONCLUSION The best news of all is that, despite all of their concerns and potential misperceptions about college, most students still believe that it is a worthwhile endeavor and the degree will lead to a good job. That said, college marketing professionals have to do a better job setting expectations for applicants and better prepare them for a successful college experience. To start, college marketers should: 1. Understand that the investigative process really starts and ends online. Think of your website as a digital counselor. Think about the kind of online tools that might help students make the best choice. 2. Create content that is relevant, responsive and easy to consume. 3. Position the school as a more practical alternative to higher priced, more competitive schools. 4. Better advise students on the real cost of school and how they might pay for it (beyond student loans). 5. Position teachers at the forefront of the admissions process. Want to learn more about our findings and how they might help you more effectively reach prospective students? JOIN US FOR OUR DEEP DIVE WEBINAR ON DECEMBER 9. For details, contact Steve Patterson at ADDITIONAL SOURCES: 1. U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2015). The Condition of Education 2015 (NCES ), Institutional Retention and Graduation Rates for Undergraduate Students State of College Admission, National Association for College Admission Counseling E-Expectations report, Ruffalo Noel Levitz, OmniUpdate, CollegeWeekLive and NRCCUA. 4. The American Freshman, National Norms, Fall 2013, University of California, Los Angeles Higher Education Research Institute. 5. Student Loan Expectations: Myth vs. Reality, US News and World Report, October 7, 2014.

9 ABOUT THE AUTHOR Steve Patterson currently serves as Senior Vice President, Marketing for INK, a full service marketing communications firm located in Irvine, CA. Prior to joining INK, Steve spent eight years as Vice President, Marketing for one of the nation s largest proprietary education companies. ABOUT INK AGENCY For nearly a decade, INK has been helping high-profile clients articulate their brand stories, make meaningful connections with their customers, drive immediate business results and build long-term brand value. For more information about how we might help you, visit us at inkagency.com or call us at