Higher Education Recruiting Trends

When it comes to higher education recruiting, showing up is half the battle. And not just showing up to class. Part of getting students to come to your school is simply ensuring that they know your school is even an option for them. Put yourself out there. Physically. Send real people - students, alumni, and faculty - to college fairs, host events like open houses and campus visits, and coordinate with high school guidance counselors to talk to students up close and personal about their college ambitions. It’s one thing to stick a flyer in the mail, but going to visit students face-to-face takes it to the next level. It makes your school memorable by giving them a person to relate to, who represents what their future may look like.

If you can’t make it to see your audience in person, don’t just send them another piece of paper that will end up in the trash, or hopefully, in the recycling bin. Give them a virtual experience. Set up a customer funnel that tracks your potential student throughout their digital journey.

Who To Talk To

There are a variety of people you can talk to in addition to the typical prospective students. Think outside the box and reach out to the people who may not have considered returning to furthering their education.

Tap into your CRM system and profile different target audiences. Close the loop with past students who didn’t finish their degrees, college transfers, dropouts, or even go back to those who didn’t finish filling out their application. Ask them why they left in the middle of the process and entice them to come back. A simple solution to this could be waving the application fees for those who could not afford it.

Presentation is Key

Now that you’re in front of your prospective audience, how do you talk to them? What do you talk to them about? Present the information in the order that students will care about. Get feedback. What do prospective students want to know most? What are they looking for in their ideal school? Academics and a quality education are the most important. Next would be scholarships, followed by brand reputation and prestige.

Quality Education

Students want to be assured that the education they receive at your school is going to set them up for success. Highlight the training and career prep programs your school offers. Let the know about the vast possibilities for internships and the global alumni network they will have access to. Give statistics on graduation rates, the average salary of graduates with a degree from your school, where the majority of post-graduates choose to take their careers (workforce, Masters, Ph. D programs, etc.). Explain the career paths for students to be able to thrive in society after getting an educational experience. What makes the program you have one-of-a-kind? Students want to see the benefits of their education being actualized in the real world. Let them see notable alumni who were “once just like them.” Show prospective students how they can progress through their college career into their professional career.

Enticing Benefits

Make sure that what they get out of their college career is clear. Bring up the things that help them succeed that other colleges may not offer - scholarships, study abroad and foreign exchange programs, extracurriculars, clubs, leagues, and interest groups that will allow students to feel like they can find a niche place to fit in. Remember this is going to be their home for the next four to five years not just a school. You want to ensure that they will feel comfortable assimilating. Make it easy and affordable to do so.

Branding

Ask the current students what they think it means to attend your institution. Your “identity” is your student body. Your messaging, voice, and tone should be to students, from students. Millennials and Generation Z want to hear it from their peers not “the man.” They want to know the iconic “hot spots” that students typically hang out at, what you’re known for and the prestige supporting it. They want to know about your culture and the campus lifestyle,

Marketing Content

A tech savvy audience needs a platform that can keep up with them. Use infographics and highlight statics. Content doesn’t need to use complete sentences and detailed paragraphs. Quick, skimmable material is easier to digest with this on-the-go generation. Collect testimonials and show faces of the student body to give the “human” element that Millennials are looking for.

Double check and user-test that you have a strong, responsive website with clear navigation. Instead of having a full page menu of majors and minors to read through, set up a dropdown menu or survey questionnaire that suggests the right college career path based on their areas of interest.

Take that website and make it mobile friendly. Link all of your social media accounts and apps to make everything easily accessible. Also make sure you know what types of content should be on each platform. Facebook/instagram should be lifestyle and news with proper hashtags. Twitter should be constantly streaming with updates on campus news and highlights articles of how alumni are succeeding. Your Youtube channel should be immersive and should allow viewers to really get a feel for the lifestyle of the student body as well as show informative content about the application process, networking and events, and the history of the school.

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