The 5 cs of college choice

— The C’s of College Choice “Boring.” “Vague.” “Generic.” — Students are often overloaded by repetitive college communication that fail to answer their questions or concerns — The college’s approach can be unbalanced, incomplete, misleading, or ordinary — We’ve identified a set of key factors that colleges can use to connect best with potential students and their families THE s ’ The five core topics TRIGGERS Curriculum — Campus — Community — Career — Cost — GOALS EXPERIENCE RELATIONSHIPS OUTCOMES VALUE MORE STUDENT-FOCUSED MORE FAMILY-FOCUSED — Diving deeper Career — OUTCOMES The outcomes attached to pursuing a degree Career “I want to love what I as a career I want to make a difference.” “I want to make a difference, so I’m attending college to get the education I’ll need.” “I want to make more money, plain and simple.” “Real world experience and internships are really imortant I want to be prepared for anything.” “I have a lot of goals: internships, study abroad, research opportunities Those will help me with my job search.” “I don’t want to get out and have all this debt and a degree that’s meaningless.” Career ❤ A job they will love is more important than financial security 83% view service learning as necessary for a career 73% want to have a city nearby for internship opportunities 5th Career preparedness ranked 5th in importance Professional outcome is the number one value of a degree Career Passion Results Experience Versatility Reputation Will I be able to get a job in the field I love? Will I see financial gains from attending college? Will I be prepared to interview for the job? Will my degree and experience be flexible? Is the school or program prestigious? Cost — VALUE The value associated with the investment Cost “Finances made a large part in my decision — a much larger part than I was prepared for.” “I looked for the best value: cheapest, but enjoyable and offering what I needed.” “I looked over cost with my parents: the financial aid package and scholarship options.” “Cost to attend was one of my top three factors My parents emphasized the importance of reviewing everything.” “The deciding factor was cost, and how it was tied to location.” “Initially I ask about how much it costs to attend and whether they give out a lot of scholarships.” Cost 60% want amounts of the scholarships awarded 50% want a financial aid calendar 57% 50% couldn’t attend their first college of choice because of cost want info on average academic scholarships 30% need basic guidance on financial aid and the process Cost Worth Profit Burden Comparisons Budget What does the college degree provide me? Will I be better off for the investment? How will I manage to pay back the debt I accrue? What does one school provide over another? Due to the cost, is this school even an option? — Redefining recruitment 85% of students apply to and visit multiple colleges as practice • Students don’t know how to prepare years in advance to apply to college • Students don’t know how to translate college terminology and jargon • Students don’t have all necessary information to evaluate colleges 1/ Audiences Know your best-fit students and their influencers well 2/ Journey Plot the student journey and uncover ways to improve it 3/ Tactics Determine which tactics will make the biggest impact 4/ Consistency Design seamless experiences that build trust 5/ Differentiate Attract attention for doing something memorable 1/ Audiences Know your best-fit students and their influencers well Engage each audience with the right information 2/ Journey Plot the student journey and uncover ways to improve it Fix the places where the student is dissatisfied 3/ Tactics Determine which tactics will make the biggest impact Edit existing tactics and keep the stronger ones 4/ Consistency Design seamless experiences that build trust Educate students earlier and build a relationship Attract attention for doing something memorable Try something new and distinct to stand out 5/ Differentiate If you’re a higher education professional and want to talk more about how we can help craft your brand communications, email us: kpalmer@ologie.com building brands with purpose