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New Study Underscores Volatility of First Choice College

April 8th, 2015

Many students enter the college selection process with, at a minimum, one or two colleges that are at the top of their list of preferred schools. It’s inevitable that some students will replace their initial first choice college with another institution they find more attractive during the course of their selection process. But how often does this happen?

More often than you think! Roughly 40% of students from the pools of public and private colleges swap out their former first choice school with another institution during their college selection process. This happens in about 25% of cases for prospective community college students.

Excitement_Factor

What motivates students to change their minds? And, more importantly, what can you do about it?

As you probably suspected, one factor is cost. Among those students bound for four-year institutions, approximately half replace their first choice college for one that costs less.

The issue of affordability is a tough one to tackle as an admissions counselor. (We have previously addressed proven strategies for presenting your institution’s unique value proposition in a manner that will take you from “too expensive” to “totally worth it.” See here.)

However, there are times when it is not going to be within your power to make the cost of your college feasible for a student you would like to enroll and they will find a better financial fit elsewhere.

Here is the good news: You do have control over the factors that are influencing the remaining pool of students who are likely to make a change. In the soon-to-be-released study, The Excitement Factor!, which explores how students arrive at that decision point, we uncovered that half of students that change their minds, do so for one of two reasons:

  • Perception of better quality at another college
  • Greater excitement about attending another college

college choice change graphicYou can protect your school from losing prospective students by presenting your college’s value proposition in a powerful, highly-personalized way. You and your team have been working for months to create student excitement about your institution. Every promotional brochure, email, campus tour, press release, personal conversation, every single effort you have put forth to make your class, has been designed to emphasize your college’s unique attributes in a way that will spark the enthusiasm of your prospective students.
But, it you aren’t asking direct questions about how a student feels, how excited (or not) they are about your college, how they feel about your college and the others they are considering, you will not learn what you need to do to change false perceptions and generate the kind of excitement that will lead to enrollment.

We encourage you to step out of your comfort zone and ask questions of students and parents that you have never asked before. Don’t worry that those questions will be too intrusive. We have done years of research on this topic, talking with hundreds of thousands of college-bound students and their parents, and have never found these questions to be considered invasive. We do, however, hear frequent complaints from students that the counselor did not attempt to get to know them better.

Best strategy: Listen to what they say. Listen for how you can help them. Ask penetrating questions and your prospective students will know that you truly want to get to know them more as a person.

We help colleges and universities with their recruiting efforts every day, especially now during yield season. If we can help you, please let me know.

If you would like a copy of The Excitement Factor! as soon as it is released, you can CLICK HERE to send us an e-mail to put you on the distribution list.

Continue the conversation on Twitter @LongmireCo. For more information about Longmire and Company’s Interactive Counselor Training Program, click here. Be sure to Subscribe to Versions of Conversion today so you don’t miss any of this highly-valuable information.

RickMontgomery_100x100Rick Montgomery is as an Enrollment Strategist at Longmire and Company. With over 20 years in higher education marketing, he brings an innovative approach to helping colleges and universities meet their enrollment goals. Rick can be reached at 913/492.1265 x.708 or via email at rmontgomery@longmire-co.com.

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Posted in Closing the Sale, Conversion and Yield, Counselor Training, Research, Your Value Proposition

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The “AHA!” Moment: Create Student Excitement to Drive Enrollment

April 6th, 2015

Last Spring, we conducted a series of focus groups on college campuses with students who had recently completed the college selection process and were now enrolled in college.

While we were exploring their individual experiences, one student wearing a t-shirt with the college’s logo raised his hand and said, “I remember the EXACT moment I knew this college was the right one for me.” Intrigued, we asked him to explain.Longmire Twitter Logo

He went on to describe how he had whittled his short list down to three colleges but was still uncertain. They all had what he wanted and all were going to be affordable for his family, he said. On a whim, he decided to visit one of the campuses again. “I was alone,” he said. “I didn’t tell anyone. I just wanted to walk around.”

He described how he was walking through one of the academic buildings. The halls were empty because students were in class. “Then,” he said, “class let out and I was in a sea of college students streaming through the hallway.”

He continued. “I just flowed along with them. I looked around, saw all these people, and felt like I belonged here. Right then I made my decision. I can’t even explain it. I just knew it was right.”

Other students in the focus group had been listening intently and nodding their heads. We asked if anyone else had a similar experience. Hands shot into the air.

That day, nearly every student in the focus group shared a specific story about their “AHA!” moment. They didn’t explain it in rational terms. They described it as an emotional epiphany. They remembered the moment in great detail; where they were, who was with them, the time of day, the weather, even what they were wearing.

Most of all, they remembered the wave of excitement they felt at that instant. They had found their college.

Next week, we will release the findings from a groundbreaking study, The Excitement Factor, which explores how students arrive at that decision point. And what colleges do to cultivate it. Our deep dive on the topic provides even stronger proof that yield is closely associated with student feelings.Excitement_Factor

Joining in this nationally co-sponsored study were forty institutions including four-year public and private not-for-profit institutions, as well as community colleges. More than 12,000 students participated in the research. Each co-sponsoring institution received proprietary data specific to their institution, but we will share the aggregate report and key findings. If you would like a copy of The Excitement Factor as soon as it is released, you can CLICK HERE  to send us an e-mail to put you on the distribution list.

The findings offer valuable insights and specifics that you can use to create student excitement about your college that will drive enrollment. We will delve into many of The Excitement Factor discoveries on this blog, too. There will be findings that validate what you have always suspected, and there will be quite a few surprises as well.

Continue the conversation on Twitter @LongmireCo. Be sure to Subscribe to Versions of Conversion today so you don’t miss any of this highly-valuable information.

RHL_Photo_100x100Bob Longmire is President of Longmire and Company, Inc. He is a recognized expert on the topic of how prospective students and parents form their college selection decisions – and how colleges can use that knowledge to grow and control their enrollment. He can be reached at (913) 492-1265, ext 709 or at blongmire@longmire-co.com.

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Posted in Behavior, Closing the Sale, Conversion and Yield, Counselor Training, Organizational development, Research

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Yield Enhancement Series: The Final Push – Act Now to Impact Enrollment and Minimize Melt

March 23rd, 2015

[This is Part 6 of the Yield Enhancement Series: The Final Push, offering actionable and effective strategies for the closing weeks of the yield season.]

You are in the final weeks of your yield season and fully engrossed in your efforts to bring in your 2015 class. I know the last thing you want to think about right now is the dreaded “summer melt,” but there are actions you can take today to ensure that your admitted students matriculate later.Yield-Enhancement-Series

Melt (for the benefit of readers new to, our outside, higher ed) refers to those admitted students who give every indication of enrolling and then “melt” away – never to step foot on campus. Some are students who commit to one college and later find they are accepted at a school where they were previously wait-listed. There are students who will complete the admittance process at two (or more) schools to keep their options open until the last possible moment. Sadly, there are college-bound students who will be admitted yet never enroll or start their college education. The U.S. Department of Education estimates the melt rate between 10% and 20%. In certain points of the country (particularly in lower income areas) it can be higher than 40%.

A Harvard study titled The Forgotten Summer, authored by researchers Benjamin L Castleman, Lindsay C. Page and Korynn Schooley, delves into the “high rate of summer attrition from the college pipeline among college-intending high school graduates.” They also explore the effectiveness of various outreach efforts during the summer. You can also read about the Summer Melt Program created by uAspire, a non-profit organization whose mission is to help students find an affordable way to – and through – a post-secondary education.

POOF_300x208Obviously, when a student fails to matriculate it is a lose-lose situation: A college-bound student gets derailed in his or her pursuit of higher education and your enrollment goals are impacted at the point of no return. But there is another reason you should be thinking about this now: The research shows that the factors that contribute to the phenomenon of melt are the same issues that are impacting the students in your admit pool today; coping with the reality of college costs, anxiety about finding the “right fit” and an overwhelming amount of often confusing paperwork, among them.

We will take a deeper dive into the subject of melt in the coming months. What is of importance today is to follow the lead of the most successful admissions counselors. They know they must build relationships with their students and gain valuable personal insight about each and every one of them. They know whether or not cost is the most critical factor and what attributes of their college will excite the student.

With that knowledge in hand, they nurture a relationship with the student that best serves the needs of the individual. They stay in touch, ask questions and have meaningful conversations throughout the entire admissions process. They make the student feel wanted, important, and engaged with the college. And, they don’t get unpleasantly surprised in July when the student tells them he or she has opted for another college or gone completely silent.

We help colleges and universities with their recruiting efforts every day, especially now during yield season. If we can help you, please let me know.

Continue the conversation on Twitter @LongmireCo. For more information about Longmire and Company’s Interactive Counselor Training Program, click here. Be sure to Subscribe to Versions of Conversion today so you don’t miss any of this highly-valuable information.

RickMontgomery_100x100Rick Montgomery is as an Enrollment Strategist at Longmire and Company. With over 20 years in higher education marketing, he brings an innovative approach to helping colleges and universities meet their enrollment goals. Rick can be reached at 913/492.1265 x.708 or via email at rmontgomery@longmire-co.com.

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Posted in Behavior, Closing the Sale, Conversion and Yield, Research, Your Value Proposition

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Yield Enhancement Series: The Final Push – Find Your Unique Selling Proposition

March 11th, 2015

[This is Part 3 of the Yield Enhancement Series: The Final Push, offering actionable and effective strategies for the closing weeks of the yield season.]

Admissions teams across the country are in the midst of their most exciting, and yes, most stressful, time of year. Every communication you have with a prospective student right now could be the ONE that seals the deal.

No pressure, right? Consider this your review before the final exam. Here are a few key insights (backed by extensive research) that will help you frame the conversations you are having with the students in your admit pool in a more compelling way and help you win more enrollments.Yield-Enhancement-Series

First, get rid of assumptions. “I am going to cross Brandon off my list because he made it clear that he couldn’t afford us unless he got more financial aid,” or “Jessica’s mother told me that she wants her daughter to commit to XYZ University because we are just too costly.”

Not so fast. Before you give up on Brandon and Jessica consider this: As important as the issue of cost is in the college decision process, it may not be the driving force you have assumed it is. Actually, less than 27% of the students in our current “Excitement Factor” study (with over 13,000 participants) considered cost to be the overriding factor in their ultimate college selection.

Plus, 70% of students and parents told us they would reconsider a college they originally thought to be too expensive if it can demonstrate greater value. (See our report Your Value Proposition: How prospective students and parents perceive value and select colleges.)

We know with certainty, through our research and providing counselor training workshops on college campuses across the country, that Brandon and Jessica (and every other student in your pool who has expressed cost sensitivity) represent an opportunity for you to demonstrate your school’s unique value proposition. But first you have to define it. From the perspective of the student and parent. Not yours!

I am willing to bet that you can list 20-plus outstanding attributes about your college right now. Reasons why someone should come to your school. If so, good job.

The problem is: the students and parents you are talking to are hearing the exact same thing from every other college they are considering. That is the bitter truth!

To differentiate your college you must pinpoint the attributes that are unique to your school.differentiate-yourself-from-the-crowd It’s not just what you have in the way of programs, facilities and people. It’s what your institution believes in. It’s the type of students your institution attracts. It’s the type of experience you offer that is unavailable anywhere else.

Try this exercise. It will bring focus to your ability to distinguish your institution from all others. Make a list of all of the things you say about your college and all of the reasons you think a student would find your school attractive. Now, look at each item on your list and ask yourself, “Are my prospective students hearing the same thing from any other college?” Be brutally honest.

If you think other colleges are likely to be saying the same thing that you’re saying about yourself, then cross it off your list. At the end of the exercise count how many items you have left.

We frequently do this exercise in our Interactive Counselor Training Workshops on college campuses all over the country. I can tell you that, in most cases, the big list of “reasons why to attend” gets whittled down to nothing. Then, we challenge the counselors to identify the beliefs, culture and characteristics that are genuinely special about their school.

By forcing yourself to go through this very introspective process you will have discovered what truly makes you exceptional among the many choices available to prospective students.

I guarantee that in many ways your college is truly distinctive. Identifying those attributes allows you to have focused and engaging conversations with the students in your pool.

At this stage of the cycle, every conversation should include a highly-personalized discussion of the value you provide, matching your college’s unique attributes to what is most interesting and exciting to that student. This is your opportunity to demonstrate how your value delivery outweighs your cost.

We help colleges and universities with their recruiting efforts every day, especially now during yield season. If I can help you, please let me know.

Continue the conversation on Twitter @LongmireCo.   For more information about Longmire and Company’s Interactive Counselor Training Program, click here. Be sure to Subscribe to Versions of Conversion today so you don’t miss any of this highly-valuable information

RickMontgomery_100x100Rick Montgomery is as an Enrollment Strategist at Longmire and Company. With over 20 years in higher education marketing, he brings an innovative and dynamic approach to helping colleges and universities meet their enrollment goals. Rick can be reached at 913/492.1265 x.708 or via email at rmontgomery@longmire-co.com.

 

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