Insights on Admissions Marketing

Which Web Site Features do Prospective Students Find Valuable?

Many colleges and universities will slide directly into full-time recruiting mode in the next few weeks. As a result, so will their Web sites. Online admissions event calendars will be filled up. Personalized emails will be hurled into the inboxes of excited seniors. And your online features and functionality will see a strong spike in usage.

As you may know, James Tower, along with several partners, produce an annual research initiative designed to help schools understand the expectations that prospective students and parents have of their Web site. To help institutions prioritize where to put their online enrollment strategy time and budget, the following lays out the features in which prospective student find the most value. Over 1000 high school seniors were asked how valuable they find each of the following features (5=extreme value - 1=no value at all).

Rank	Feature	Value
1	An online application	4.11
2	A form that lets you request a campus visit	3.92
3	RSS feeds to help keep you up to date with admission information and campus activities	3.62
4	A calculator to help you understand the cost to attend that school	3.55
5	Online Course Catalog	3.44
6	A calendar of events on campus	3.41
7	Videos showing campus, students, classes or activities	3.38
8	Virtual tours	3.37
9	A form that personalizes the site to suit your particular interests	3.33
10	A request form to have information sent through the mail	3.32
11	A request form to have information sent in an e-mail	3.29
12	Brochures and other printed materials available as PDFs on the site	3.14
13	A portal site for admitted students	3.11
14	Photo galleries	3.11
15	Live chat or instant messaging with someone from admissions through the site	3.05
16	Faculty profiles	2.92
17	A way to connect with the school through instant messaging or live chat	2.82
18	Information about and access to school's private social networks	2.82
19	Online chat events with people from campus	2.62
20	Student or faculty blogs	2.56
21	A connection to my Facebook or other social network	2.33
22	A way to have information sent in a text message	2.27
23	Podcasts	2.27

The full white paper covering this year's results can be found on the James Tower Web site.

Questions or ideas? Email me at drwacker@jamestower.com or visit JamesTower.com.

From the James Tower Marketing Minute

James Tower has released the newest report in their E-Expectations series. "Scrolling Toward Enrollment: Web Site Content and the E-Expectations of College Bound Seniors," examines the online preferences, behaviors and expectations of more than 1,000 college-bound students in relation to higher education Web sites.

This national study provides extensive insight into the role of a college’s Web site in a prospective student’s decision-making process.  In this report, you'll learn:

• How the accuracy and relevance of a Web site influences students' enrollment decisions
• What students are willing to read completely, even if it means scrolling  
• What students think about campuses that recruit via social networking
• How students prefer to be contacted during various points in the enrollment funnel

The study reaffirms that the Web site plays a vital role in a higher education institution’s recruitment effort and that a negative online experience could reduce a student’s interest in a school. To download this E-Expectations report and check out other reports from our E-Expectations series, visit: http://www.jamestower.com/e-expectations.html. 

Here’s to another great Monday!