Three CUES is GDA Integrated Services’ free electronic newsletter. In each edition, we focus on only three items taken from our College & University Environmental Scanning (CUES) and our GDAIS research. Unlike most higher education newsletters, Three CUES often looks beyond news about colleges and universities to review greater social and marketing trends. Produced on a regular basis, Three CUES not only provides information, but also offers observations and recommendations concerning each topic.

Summer 2009 Edition:

• Reflections on the 2008-09 Student Recruitment Campaign
• Take the Risk Out of Risk
• Save Your Lost Generation

Reflections on the 2008-09 Student Recruitment Campaign

This year, GDA Integrated Services has watched a large number of admissions offices wrestle with the challenge of enrolling a class during difficult economic times. The student recruitment business has never been easy, but as the problems increase we find that colleges tend to look to big expensive “silver bullet” solutions and lose sight of some of the proven techniques of the past. As the recruitment cycle winds down, we have some reflections on what took place this year and how things can improve for next year. What follows is a brief description of the seven opportunity areas that we suggest colleges examine as they analyze this year’s recruitment effort. We welcome feedback on any of these observations from our practitioner friends and associates.

1. The focus should be on prospect management not application management. Too many colleges let inquiries linger in their prospect pools until they demonstrate enough interest to apply for admission. GDAIS market research has shown for several years that 70% or more of college-bound students have a first choice college in mind by the end of their junior year in high school. Only three things will change their minds: not getting into their first choice college; changed family circumstances; or large merit scholarship awards. Therefore, the primary focus of a successful recruitment program should be to start early and turn inquirers into first choice applicants.

2. Recruitment is not rocket science. All of the latest technology made possible by the internet has vastly changed the nature of communication with prospective students but it has not changed the fundamentals of the business. Social networking appears to have some possibilities for word-of-mouth marketing, and viral marketing, but – to use a football metaphor – student recruitment is basically “blocking and tackling.” Face-to-face contact, developing relationships, and making a customized case for the value of your college based on a student’s interests and needs will beat Facebook, blogs, and glitzy technology every time. It is hard work but the payoff makes it worthwhile.

3. Applications are not what they used to be. There was a time when admissions officers could realistically assume that every application they received was an indication of serious interest. With the exponential growth in pre-populated applications and first source, no fee electronic applications, it is increasingly difficult to know who is and is not truly interested. A large applicant pool in January can turn into a smaller than expected freshman class in May. Pre-populated applications and first source applications are really nothing more than “hot prospects” and they should be treated as such from the time they enter the prospect pool.

4. Too much e-mail and not enough telephone. Too many admissions counselors believe a good personal e-mail to a prospect is just as effective as a phone call. Our experience with telerecruiting and broadcast e-mail, as well as our market research, demonstrates conclusively that the only substitute for a face-to-face contact with a prospect is a personal telephone call. E-mails have their place in the administrative aspect of the admission process but they are too passive to be effective as a recruitment device. Phone calls are direct and personal. The call allows the counselor to engage in a dialog that can lead in many directions but also steer the prospect toward taking further positive action steps in the enrollment process. When in doubt, use the phone.

5. Integrate your communication. Many colleges are cutting back print communication with students in favor of less expensive electronic communication. While we do not dismiss the value of e-communication and we recognize that budget constraints are an issue, we believe it is important to mix print and electronic in an integrated communication flow to students and parents. Once again, our market research tells us that 35% of students and 45% of parents prefer to get information about colleges in print. Only 18% of students and 8% of parents prefer electronic only. The remainder prefers to receive both equally. Colleges that do not have a print component to their communication flow are failing to connect with a significant percentage of the prospect pool.

6. Don’t forget need in your financial aid mix. The shift to merit-based aid for students with and without need has been pronounced in recent years. More and more colleges are forgoing their need-based aid programs except for a few special constituencies. They are turning instead to merit awards to reward academic and extracurricular achievements in order to stroke egos and leverage their limited aid budgets. Although much of this merit-based gift assistance goes toward meeting need, we see two problems with this strategy:

• First, as we pointed out earlier, it is very expensive to buy students away from their first choice college. Research shows that they are more than willing to stretch to pay for their first choice and barter for their second. So while it is possible to buy some students, this tends to drive up the discount rate and decrease the net tuition revenue.


• Second, the vast majority of students applying to private colleges as well as many applying to public institutions show financial need. Many families demonstrate considerably more need than they ever imagined. If a college does not do a good job of explaining and promoting need-based aid and getting applicants to file a FAFSA, the students are significantly less likely to enroll. Those who do file and get some amount of aid are significantly more likely to enroll. Calling accepted students to encourage them to file a FAFSA not only facilitates this but it is also a great opportunity to engage the student and his/her family in a discussion about the college’s value proposition.

7. Good people are at the heart of every successful program. Virtually all of the colleges that fell short of their enrollment target this year shared one common problem. They failed to retain, train, and adequately compensate a stable, experienced admissions staff. Experienced, professional admissions counselors are crucial to successfully meeting enrollment goals. Such individuals have established relationships with college counselors in their recruitment territories. They know how to effectively make the case for their institutions with students and their parents. They know how to close the deal. It is critical that colleges invest in a professional admissions staff.

Traditionally, colleges have relied upon newly-hired, modestly-trained recent graduates to drive their recruitment campaigns. Overworked and underpaid, these recruiters tend to move on to greener pastures as soon as they have accumulated the experience and knowledge that begins to make them valuable to the institution for which they work. This cycle is devastating for colleges that count on the admissions office to make the class.

History (and research) has shown us time and time again that the direct influence of a skilled admissions counselor can actually move a college up in the list of top choice schools the student is considering. We have never met a college student in our market research work who said they chose a college because of the website or print publications or a great on-line chat, etc. but we have interviewed thousands who said they enrolled because of the effort made by a particular admissions staff member. It takes time and money to develop the admissions staff who can effectively recruit a class, year after year. Support should be available for training and on-going professional development and – most important – the successful recruiters need to be rewarded at contract renewal time.

To discuss further, or to provide feedback, contact Topher Small at 860-388-3958 or topher@dehne.com.

Take the Risk Out of Risk

“Never waste a good crisis” goes the old adage. This might be particularly true in these tough economic times, when a new program or activity can make your institution more attractive and, therefore, more competitive. In higher education, change and improvements generally only occur when there is a crisis. When times are good, people are less apt to try new things. When times are bad, even the most reluctant have to start to do things better and differently.

Unfortunately, in an economic crisis when funds are tight, doing something new might have a price tag that suggests too much risk. Fortunately, risk can be managed.

Consider this example. We recommended to a small college in a small town in the Midwest that they consider “an intensive learning period” of three-weeks or so each year. This was a college that had suffered enrollment declines for several years, losing many students to urban or suburban institutions. As one might expect, the college administration was concerned because there would be a cost to changing the academic calendar. And, of course, what if it did not attract students? GDAIS conducted telephone interviews with 400 college-bound students and tested the ideas. The findings are below.

The most important data, however, which virtually removed the risk, was what we learned about those students who were extremely interested in these options. They tended to have higher high school GPAs, higher composite ACT scores, and higher incomes. They were more likely to be interested in a small college but would not attend a college that did not have internships or short overseas experiences. Calendar changed. Enrollments went up.

We recommended to a small private college located near a college-friendly large city that it had to be more intentional in utilizing its suburban location. This is an institution that, for its survival, had to attract students from outside their major market who could pay a higher percentage of the college’s comprehensive fee. We made several suggestions for adding new program options and then interviewed 400 college-bound students to test the positive impact of our recommendations. The table below shows the percentage of college-bound respondents who said a specific option would greatly increase their desire to attend, those who said these options would increase their desire to attend and those who said the option would have no effect. (We have omitted decrease interest because the percentages were so small as to be irrelevant.)

When we looked specifically at those students who said an option would greatly increase their interest, we once again discovered that these students tended to have higher standardized test scores, higher high school GPAs, higher family incomes, and were willing to travel more than 100 miles from home to attend college. Perhaps of greatest importance, those most interested in these options preferred attending a college in a city but were concerned about safety.

Because of the supporting data, the college quickly adopted many of the recommended options and is considering others.

Often, unexpected byproducts of quantitative research are trust and confidence. Even the most skeptical among a college’s internal audiences have difficulty attacking the data from a well-crafted quantitative survey. Of greater importance, however, is the fact that hard data can give an institution the confidence to make changes because the numbers clearly demonstrate that the chance of failure is small (unless implementation is poor.)

Do not miss the opportunity this current crisis offers to make yours a more attractive and competitive institution.

To discuss opportunities for your institution, contact George Dehne at 843-971-9088 or george@dehne.com.

Save Your Lost Generation

GDA Integrated Services research shows that:

• Six of 10 college-bound students say they developed their short list of likely colleges by the end of their sophomore year.


• Eight of 10 of these same students say they are unlikely to consider other colleges.


• Half of the sophomore students who have received direct mail from a college previously unknown to them are more likely to become interested in that institution compared with fewer than two of 10 juniors.


• More than four of 10 sophomores remember the “marketing themes” of a college they learned about in their sophomore year compared with only one of 10 juniors.


• Generally, eight of 10 students who decided to apply early decision or early action became seriously interested in their enrolling college in their sophomore year.


• Sophomores are nearly eight times as likely as juniors to open direct mail from a college that had previously been unknown to them.


• At most private colleges, fewer than two of 10 sophomores who expressed interest in a college ever actually apply. Far fewer actually enroll.


• Two of three high school guidance counselors say they are seeing an increase in students beginning the college search earlier than junior year.

So, what does this mean to you?

Instinctively, most admissions professionals know the importance of getting an early start on sophomores, even if they have not seen the above data. That is why more and more colleges are purchasing the names of high school sophomores with, in most cases, gloomy results.

The short answer

The short answer is colleges must treat sophomores much the same way they treat juniors and seniors – with a combination of e-mail, print publications, and, most importantly, telephone calls. As we are all discovering, the Millennials are the “no wait” generation. It is no accident that this generation prefers communication modes such as instant messaging and texting. When they request information, they want it immediately or, if by snail mail, in a reasonable time. We often run into colleges who wait until the junior year to send information to sophomore inquirers. However, our research shows that many sophomores quickly forget that they made the inquiry or become frustrated because there is no quick response to their contact.

The Millennials also want customized information. E-mail after e-mail filled with information of no or little interest to them wastes their time and your money. Colleges must learn about the special interests of their prospects as soon as possible, even as early as the sophomore year. Sophomores may need some general insights on the college selection process but they also want to know about the college’s specific distinctions and how those distinctions translate into benefits for them. As we pointed out in an earlier article in this newsletter, because it is easier, many admissions counselors use e-mail to communicate with inquirers when they should use the telephone. The telephone (cell or landline) is still the ultimate way to learn about a student’s interests and provide information of greatest importance to them.

The real answer

You are not going to like this answer, but your college will need either a larger admissions staff or a comprehensive outsourcing program. Depending on the size of the desired entering class, a college can expect to need two or more additional recruiting staff members to allow all counselors to work with sophomores and early juniors or to have dedicated counselors who concentrate only on this group.

The alternative is a turnkey outsourcing program that includes direct mail, customized e-mails, broadcast e-mails, telephone screening and telephone recruitment with some guarantee of success. The new GDA Integrated Services Sophomore Outsourcing Service (SOS) might be worth considering.

To find out more about SOS, contact Bob Campagnuolo at 860-388-3958 or bob@dehne.com.