(/)

The Work (https://www.upandup.agency/the-work)

Purpose (https://www.upandup.agency/purpose)
What We Do (https://www.upandup.agency/what-we-do)
Culture (https://www.upandup.agency/culture)
Team (/team-members)
Blog (https://www.upandup.agency/blog)
Speaking (https://www.upandup.agency/the-work/speaks)
Contact (https://www.upandup.agency/contact)

What Factors Influence College Choice for

Todays Students?
Subscribe (https://www.upandup.agency/feed)

(/#facebook) (/#twitter) (/#google_plus)

(/#linkedin)
Download Whitepapers
Higher Ed Social Media Engagement Report (https://www.upandup.agency/whitepaper/higher-ed-social-
media-engagement)
The Higher Ed Marketers Guide to Reaching Generation Z (https://www.upandup.agency/whitepaper/the-
higher-ed-marketers-guide-to-reaching-generation-z)
Understanding Your Students Digital World: Building a Persona
(https://www.upandup.agency/whitepaper/understanding-your-students-digital-world-building-a-persona)
Higher Ed Social Media Report (https://www.upandup.agency/whitepaper/higher-ed-social-media-report)
Web Trends 2015 (https://www.upandup.agency/whitepaper/web-trends-2015)

Most Popular Posts

 Becoming a Purpose-Driven Company (https://www.upandup.agency/branding-messaging/the-road-less-
traveled-becoming-a-purpose-driven-company)
What Factors Influence College Choice for Todays Students? (https://www.upandup.agency/digital-
marketing/reasons-students-choose-university)
Web 2.0 false-need: a CMS (Content Management System) (https://www.upandup.agency/musings-
ramblings-like/web-20-false-need-cms-content-management-system)
How to Build a Real Estate Development Marketing Strategy (https://www.upandup.agency/digital-
marketing/how-to-build-a-real-estate-development-marketing-strategy)
The Stand-Up Desk Experiment (https://www.upandup.agency/musings-ramblings-like/stand-desk-
experiment)

By Matt McFadden | Mar 09, 2015

Todays world isnt anything like it was when I was choosing a university. I didnt have access to a cell phone until
my senior year. And I had to borrow that from the athletic department. Students making decisions about college in
2015 are connected to information everywhere. Well take a look at some of the common factors influencing
students and some ways marketing can give you some focus and hopefully a nice competitive advantage.

Here are 5 factors that research shows influence college choice for todays students.

1. Geography Location is significant in many students minds, either because they want to live in a certain
part of the country or because of financial constraints. The New York Times
(http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/10/are-students-who-go-far-away-to-college-more-likely-to-
study-abroad/?_r=0) posted a study by the National Association for College Admission Counseling that
indicates that the education level, income, and travel experience of parents are the easiest ways to
determine how far away a student is willing to go for college. Still, 72% of Americans go to college in their
home state. No huge surprise here, but its a nice reminder to keep the bulk of your digital media dollars
close to home and focusing the rest on your key out of state pipelines.
2. Financial A recent survey by The Higher Education Research Institute (http://heri.ucla.edu/pr-
display.php?prQry=126) shows that the availability of financial aid heavily influences college selection. 48%
reported that a financial aid oer was a very important factor, up from 33% in 2004. Overall cost is
considered as well. More than half of first-generation students indicated that the cost of attending was a
very important factor. Continuing-generation students consider cost also, but at a lower rate only 43%
rated cost as very important in their enrollment decision.
3. Academic Excellence and Reputation Although students see academics as important, theyre not
looking at ranking lists to judge them, according to USA Today
(http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/08/12/do-college-rankings-matter/13664209/). Students
report that broader academic reputation leads their decision-making. And Inside Higher Ed
(https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/08/12/study-finds-choice-major-most-influenced-quality-
intro-professor) (citing the book How College Works) says that faculty in particular play an important role in
college decisions. At the right stage in the process, key faculty can be really influential in a students choice
of college and their major once they get there. Of course, its pretty common that on most college visits
students have the opportunity to meet key faculty. But, if you can connect students and faculty earlier
through digital, you may be able to get an early advantage. Professors active (and engaging I might add) on
social media could make for great digital recruiters.
4. Parents & Peers As much as kids dont like to admit that their parents aect their decisions, parental
input does matter, according to higher ed consultants Noel-Levitz (https://www.noellevitz.com/student-
retention-solutions/satisfaction-priorities-assessments/parent-satisfaction-inventory/explore-the-
significant-influence-of-parents-on-college-choice-and-student-retention). Nearly 60% of prospective
college students report they research colleges with their parents, and 61% of parents say that the final
decision on where to enroll is made together. As expected, students are also aected by peers, but as a
 study by ACSD (http://www.ascd.org/publications/researchbrief/v4n11/toc.aspx) points out, that
relationship is correlational. Researchers havent determined whether like-minded students tend to become
friends or if friendship aects college choices.
5. Marketing Marketing still matters of course, but its changing. The 2014 Social Admissions Report
(http://www.uversity.com/downloads/presentations/2014-Social-Admissions-Report-Webinar.pdf), a survey
of college-bound high school students, shows that institutions websites are the most heavily-accessed
online resources, with 86% of respondents listing these as very or extremely useful. We all know mobile is a
priority, but a key takeaway is the lack of interest in university apps. While 97% of students have viewed
college sites on their phones, nearly of students said they had no interest in downloading a universitys
app. If your colleges site isnt yet responsive, wed recommend this be the priority. However, this eort at
an institutional level could be pretty monumental in its own right. Changing a college website is a little like
turning a cruise ship. Its not going to be quick. If thats the case, it may be worthwhile to explore a
microsite aimed specifically at prospective students. That can give you a quick, eective destination that
you can use for other digital campaigns.

The report also included a few great insights on social media usage. Social is a huge play space, and its hard to
understand where to focus. Even if you have that figured out, great content is still dicult to create. Students
claimed that only 44% of the content was relevant, namely because colleges still need to communicate with
current students and faculty. One way to combat this is to create specific groups for admitted students. 63% of
students said they would join a Facebook group at a school they were admitted to. This is great info because you
can focus content directly relevant to this audience, but you can also start conversations with them. 2/3 of
students said that conversations over social directly influenced their decision. The report has some pretty solid
examples of conversations as well, so its definitely worth the download.

What It All Means

Many of these factors are things that institutions cant change. Geography, cost, and faculty are all part of a
colleges identity. There are more channels than anyone can probably manage, but if you can hone in on a few
that are most eective and focus on content specific to prospective students, youll be giving yourself a nice
advantage over your rivals.

There are no comments. Leave a reply.

Leave a Reply
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Comment

Name *

Email *

Website
Post Comment

Previous Post Previous Post

Previous Post
Up&Up
864.373.9330 (tel:+1-864-373-9330)
contact@upandup.agency (mailto:contact@upandup.agency)

504 Rhett Street

Suite 100

Greenville, SC 29601

(https://www.google.com/maps/place/504+Rhett+Street,+Greenville,+SC+29601)
2016 Up&Up

Higher Ed Marketing Newsletter

Subscribe to our "Educated Marketing" newsletter

Enter Your Email Subscribe

Learn more about "Educated Marketing" (/educated-marketing-newsletter)
(https://instagram.com/teamupandup/)
(https://www.linkedin.com/company/up-&-up-agency)
(https://twitter.com/upandupagency)
(https://www.facebook.com/upandupagency)

The Work
(https://www.upandup.agency/the-work)

Purpose
(https://www.upandup.agency/purpose)

What We Do
(https://www.upandup.agency/what-we-do)

Culture
(https://www.upandup.agency/culture)

Team
(/team-members)

Careers
(https://www.upandup.agency/careers)

Blog
(https://www.upandup.agency/blog)

Speaking
(https://www.upandup.agency/the-work/speaks)

Contact
(https://www.upandup.agency/contact)