Engaging Parents: Possibly Your Best Recruitment Strategy

Transcription

1 Engaging Parents: Possibly Your Best Recruitment Strategy Presented by Greg Eichhorn, Albright College Alex White, Royall & Company

2 Today s presentation Overview of findings from parent surveys Strategic insights and recommendations Parent and student engagement strategies in practice What is happening on your campuses?

3 Overview of research study Two online surveys were designed to measure: Study 1: Perceived parental influence in college choice, information needs and preferred communication modes Study 2: Parental concerns regarding financial aspects of higher education Probability samples using parent addresses were provided by students in college and university inquiry pools Parents received an invitation from University Research Partners requesting participation in an online survey Samples Study 1: 2,832 parents Study 2: 2,046 parents

4 Parent demographics Student s high school year Spring 2012 Winter 2013 Sophomore Junior Senior

5 Parent demographics Parent gender Spring 2012 Winter 2013 Mother Father

6 Parent demographics Parent ethnicity Spring 2012 Winter 2013 Caucasian Non-Caucasian

7 Parent demographics Parent region Spring 2012 Winter 2013 Middle States Midwest New England Outside U.S. South Southwest West

8 Parent demographics Parent education Spring 2012 Winter 2013 Four-Year Degree or Higher Less Than Four-Year Degree

9 Parent demographics Family makeup Spring 2012 Winter 2013 Traditional Family Non-Traditional Family

10 What are the primary areas of parental influence? How much influence would you say you have over XXX? Top four answers Mean Score How much is spent on your child s college education 4.38 The amount of debt the family will incur for your child s education 4.37 The amount of personal debt your child will incur 4.10 Whether your child contributes personal funds to pay for college 3.91 Bottom three answers The specific school(s) your child visits 3.65 Whether your child works while attending college 3.52 The specific school(s) your child considers 3.27 Mean scores are based on a 5-point scale, where 1 = no influence and 5 = significant influence.

11 How are parents engaging in college choice? Talked with child about schools being considered Searched for information on a college s website Read printed materials colleges sent to child Read messages sent directly to parent Helped child compare options by weighing the pros and cons of different schools Talked with child about different college majors Talked with child about financing college Reported by 75% or more of parents responding

12 How are parents getting the information they need? Searching on institutional websites (85.4%) Reading materials mailed to them and/or their child (84.3%) Reading materials ed to them and/or their child (81.0%) Searching for information online using search engines (75.0%)

13 How are parents searching online? What type of searches are you most likely to perform? Count Percent Search by a specific school s name 1, Search by academic majors (e.g., pre-med programs) 1, Search for college-related search engines (e.g., College Finder) Search by geographic locations (e.g., universities in the Midwest) Search by school characteristics (e.g., all-female colleges)

14 When do parents want specific information? When parents prefer to receive specific information Freshman Year Sophomore Year Junior Year Senior Year Costs (e.g., tuition, housing, fees) 76.9% 49.8% 73.3% 52.4% Financing college 75.0% 40.6% 58.7% 34.8% Financial aid 73.5% 43.1% 62.1% 47.1% Scholarships 70.4% 46.0% 65.3% 46.2% General information about the college 64.9% 44.1% 48.8% 15.0% Application dates/deadline reminders 59.1% 21.4% 49.6% 60.6% Room and board options 56.5% 26.9% 44.2% 50.3% Housing options 54.4% 25.7% 43.8% 49.4% Location of the school and area around it 47.3% 27.8% 39.4% 14.3% Degree programs 41.6% 27.3% 37.9% 12.3% Majors/minors 38.6% 24.4% 34.1% 11.4% Career opportunities related to specific majors 26.5% 21.7% 29.5% 17.2%

15 How do most parents wish to receive information? How parents prefer to receive specific information Mail Web Phone Costs (e.g., tuition, housing, fees) 62.4% 73.2% 67.7% 11.6% Financing college 56.3% 66.6% 52.9% 23.1% Financial aid 61.6% 70.8% 51.3% 34.7% Scholarships 65.2% 67.9% 50.7% 38.2% General information about the college 46.0% 62.0% 56.6% 12.1% Application deadline reminders 80.3% 44.3% 39.8% 45.1% Campus safety 43.1% 40.9% 63.4% 15.0% Room and board options 45.0% 55.2% 60.3% 6.9% Housing options 44.4% 53.7% 61.1% 7.5%

16 Thinking about college costs Most parents think of comprehensive costs (including tuition, fees, housing and meals) when thinking about the cost of their child s education (93.8%) More than one in four parents (28.0%) indicated they did not know the maximum amount they would spend to send their child to college Mothers were much less likely to know than were fathers Parents from lower-income households were less likely to know than were parents from higher-income households Half of the parents surveyed (50.6%) indicated they will consider college costs in their decision making once their child is admitted and has been awarded financial aid One-third of parents (33.4%) are considering costs throughout the college search process

17 Parents financial situation is affecting college choice 68.9% of parents surveyed indicated their financial situation has been negatively affected in recent years 43.0% indicated their savings have been reduced or depleted Most parents (69.0%) will encourage their child to consider the best schools with the best aid packages 10.3% of parents indicated they will encourage their child to attend a college that offers the best total package, even if it is not the best school to which their child is admitted

18 Key insights Parents believe they have the most influence over the financial aspects of their child s college choice Parents want to receive different information at different stages of the college search process Financial planning and feasibility > freshman year General college information > sophomore year Specific schools, majors, careers, scholarships and financial aid > junior year Applications (tips and deadlines), enrollment, housing > senior year Parents are using search engines to find the information they need and want, BUT Parents still want printed materials

19 Parent engagement strategies in practice Building communication campaigns specifically for parents Providing financial information to support discussions within households Designing on-campus events for parents Strengthening your Web-based parent content Maximizing online search outcomes (SEO efforts)

20 Search continues to build a database of parent addresses Percentage of Search respondents sharing parent addresses 17% 34% Why are parent addresses important? Inquiries who provided parent addresses in Search are 27% more likely to apply, and that lift carries through to deposits

21 Availability of parent address is a strong indicator of application conversion Application rate by availability of parent address Entering Class 2013 Search responders 14% 12% 10% 27% Lift 8% 6% 4% 2% 0% No Parent Parent

22 Availability of parent address is a strong indicator of conversion across all distance bands Application rate by availability of parent address Entering Class 2013 Search responders 10% Lift 19% Lift 37% Lift 51% Lift No Parent Parent

23 What s happening on your campuses?