Closing the Gaps:Meeting Emerging Student Preferences and Increasing Yield in the Post-Inquiry Enrollment Process

A white paper revealing proprietary research on emerging preferences of online learners, as well as a

compilation of strategic, proven tactics used by higher education institutions to avoid pitfalls in the student

prospecting process and improve enrollment yield.

www.EducationDynamics.com/Find-Students

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Closing the Gaps

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Table of Contents The Challenge ....................................................................................................................II Executive Summary ..........................................................................................................1

Effective Student Prospecting Activities: The Four Gaps ..............................................2 Gap 1: Speed and Consistency of Contacts .....................................................................2

Case Study: Bryant & Stratton University ......................................................2

Case Study: Post University ...........................................................................3

Case Study: Private, For-Profit University, 3,000 – 10,000 enrollments .........3

Gap 2: Quality of Contract .............................................................................................4

Case Study: Texas A&M’s Bush School .........................................................4

Case Study: Lehigh University .......................................................................5

Gap 3: Method of Contact ..............................................................................................6

Case Study: Texas A&M’s Bush School ..........................................................7

Case Study: Post University ............................................................................7

Case Study: Private, For-Profit College, >10,000 enrollments ........................7

Gap 4: Web-Based Prospecting Activities ......................................................................8 Case Study: Texas A&M’s Bush School .........................................................8

Case Study: Bryant & Stratton University ......................................................9

Case Study: Private, For-Profit University, 3,000 – 10,000 enrollments .........9

Moving to Action ..............................................................................................................10

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The ChallengeThe advent and increasing popularity of online learning has expanded the number of accredited providers of online higher education to more than 4,300 institutions in just a few short years. Dissolution of geographic boundaries in the learning process has propelled the pursuit of a degree or certificate from a mere dream to a feasible reality for a wide range of prospective student demographics — in fact, more than 20 percent of all higher education students (nearly 4 million) were enrolled in at least one online course in the fall of 2010.

As competition for recruiting prospective students to online programs heats up, understanding what works, what doesn’t and what outreach is most meaningful to prospective students becomes imperative for higher education institutions seeking to increase enrollment yield among qualified leads likely to succeed in online education programs.

Those preferences — and how best to respond to them to drive enrollment success — form the focus of this white paper. The informa-tion presented is based on comprehensive EducationDynamics proprietary research from two of its content-rich and highly visible education websites, eLearners.com and EarnMyDegree.com, as well as case studies of successful post-inquiry outreach processes currently in use at a select number of higher education institutions offering online programs. By identifying those preferences, the gaps that may occur when needs and expectations are not met and real-world, best-practice solutions for closing those gaps, this EducationDynamics white paper can help you avoid costly pitfalls in your student prospecting process.

Understanding the needs of today’s online learners and tailoring post- inquiry institutional outreach to adhere to those preferences may not only drive improvement of your enrollment yield, it may also potentially help ensure that those increased numbers of students you enroll will also have increased overall student success.

“Understanding the needs of today’s

online learners ... drives improvement of

enrollment yield, but also facilitates a more meaningful outcome –

increased accountability in regards to overall

student success.”

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Closing the Gaps

Closing the Gaps

Executive SummaryEducationDynamics, whose network of Web-based prospecting resources has connected more than six million students with schools that best fit their goals, is dedicated to tracking the trends relevant to the online learner as well as sharing best practices to guide higher education institutions in developing effective prospecting activities.

The Research Approach

Through its research, “Prospective Student Enrollment Preferences,” EducationDynamics sought to glean information about the likes and dislikes of prospective online students in the post-inquiry enrollment process. Consequently, in November 2008, nearly 2,000 prospective students who inquired about an online degree program on EducationDynamics’ Web properties eLearners.com and EarnMyDegree.com were polled about their perceptions on the positive and negative aspects of the post-inquiry enrollment process.

Of those responding, 32 percent were studying at the associate’s level, 37 percent at the bachelor’s level and 31 percent at the master’s level and above. Nearly 75 percent of respondents fell between the ages of 26 and 59, and while males represented 62 percent of the responding demographic, further analysis revealed no variation in student preference responses between genders.

In addition to compiling responses from survey participants, EducationDynamics also undertook a “secret shopper” investigation, wherein researchers catalogued the post-inquiry enrollment outreach processes of various institutions offering online degree programs. Rounding out the research were interviews regarding best practices with a select number of online learner providers who have developed successful processes and responses to the post-inquiry enrollment process.

The Research Results

In what may come as a surprise to traditional higher education institutions, the findings from eLearners.com and EarnMyDegree.com indicated that speed and method of contact matter most, followed by quality of contact and online activities, most notably the effectiveness of the institution’s prospecting website and the availability of other Web-based activities, such as blogs and online course demos.

The good news for enrollment marketing departments is that, of the 2,000 respondents, 89 percent indicated they were satisfied or very satisfied with the entire school selection process.

However, from the perspective of increasing recruitment yield, four areas stood out as “gaps” where recruiters could, by improving their process or responses to align with prospective student preferences, substantially increase their enrollment success rates. These tactics have not only proven to be successful in bolstering enrollment yield, but they are also easily scalable for institutions of any size, specialty or target demographics.

“Four areas stood out as ‘gaps’ where recruiters could, by improving their process or responses to align with prospective student preferences, substantially increase their enrollment success rates.”

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Addressing the GapsBased on participants’ responses, the four gaps in the recruitment process are:

• Gap 1: Speed and consistency of contact

• Gap 2: Quality of contact

• Gap 3: Method of contact

• Gap 4: Web-based prospecting activities

Gap 1: Speed and Consistency of Contact

When colleges and universities evaluate the leads they most often fail to convert, speed of contact is likely a factor. Demonstrative of the competitive nature of the industry, the student preferences research from eLearners.com and EarnMyDegree.com suggests that nearly 65 percent of those inquiring about online education requested information from more than two institutions. Of those, 42 percent selected one school to which to apply, making that period from initial inquiry to application a critical time for schools to establish meaningful communication with prospects.

In the technology-enriched world of enrollment management, speed of contact has been heralded as a cornerstone of successful student conversion. For-profit institutions seem to be performing well on this front, with more than 65 percent of survey respondents having been contacted within 24 hours of their initial request for information, 20 percent within three days and six percent after three days. However, the secret shopper inquiries made among various schools’ enrollment management teams revealed that 23 percent of the institutional departments contacted never responded at all.

Overall, students polled by EducationDynamics concurred that speed is an important element of the enrollment process, with nearly half of survey respondents indicating that the response speed of the schools to which they inquired impacted their final decision to enroll. In fact, recent research has found that any contact outside of five minutes will reduce contact rate by as much as 40 percent. Interestingly, however, only 16 percent of survey respondents indicated that they were contacted within one hour of their initial inquiry.

48%

5%

Is Response Speed Importantin Enrollment Decision?

22% 25%

Don’t Know

Somewhat

No

Yes

16%

20%6%

7%

Reported Post-InquirySpeed of Contact

51%

Don’t Remember

Over 3 Days

Within 24 Hours

Within 3 Days

Within 1 Hour

Case Study: Bryant & Stratton University

Bryant & Stratton University’s speed of contact in response to incoming prospect inquiries serves as an ideal model for institutions seeking to secure enrollments through swift response time. Upon receipt of a lead, this leading for-profit career college granting both two- and four-year online degrees immediately dispatches a personalized email to the prospect with an online brochure specific to his or her program of inquiry that explains the program features and benefits. Within 10 to 15 minutes of the inquiry and the automatic email response, an outbound phone call is placed by one of Bryant & Stratton’s experienced, full-time team of enrollment representatives with the goal of determining qualified students and transferring those leads to speak with admissions representatives.

As a result of this immediate outreach and consistent, tailored follow-up, Bryant & Stratton has seen a significant increase in the conversion rate of student inquiries to enrollments as compared to their previous, less-immediate response processes.

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Closing the Gaps

Case Study: Post University

Post University has also benefited from the rapid response rate that a dedicated, effective call center can provide. Four years ago, the school’s recruitment program was failing to reach prospects in a timely manner. They were unable to forward inquiries to the call center quickly and couldn’t effectively manage inquiry flow. Their challenge was to figure out how to revamp their response infrastructure, operations and technology to achieve improved speed of contact.

The goal was to respond to all inquiries within an hour of receipt. To do so, Post has revised its process flow based on the twin tenets of “persistence and consistency” and substantially improved/expanded its technology. Together, these two changes can support the fastest, most consistent response time possible.

The outcome is that 90 percent of prospective students are now contacted within a half hour; thereafter, Post has had conversion success with a consistent call cycle that mixes up outreach hours (different segments throughout the day and night and weekdays and Saturday). The result? These process improvements have doubled Post’s conversion rate from lead aggregators.

Case Study: Private, For-Profit University, 3,000-10,000 enrollments

Another institution that believes swift response is critical is a noted private, for-profit institution offering online and on-campus degree programs in art design and business. With more than 6,500 students, this mid-sized institution has harnessed the ability to import and respond to leads in real-time, adjusting follow-up contact according to lead type and lead quality.

Essentially, the University sorts potential student inquiries into one of two response groups based on the information that accompanies the inquiry. For example, this school has found that those lead categories needing additional verification are most cost-effectively handled by the institution’s proprietary call center, while other lead categories (i.e., those that have historically led to a high conversion rate) are assigned directly to an admissions representative’s contact manager for immediate outreach.

Using this approach, the institution is able to not only respond quickly, thus aligning with the preferences noted in the EducationDynamics survey, but also to do so in a tiered, and thus more cost-effective, manner.

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Gap 2: Quality of Contact

While responding quickly to prospective student inquiries is important, speed itself is not sufficient to convert a lead into an enrollment; there’s a significant difference between being first to contact a lead and actually being responsive to an individual student’s questions. Tailoring methods of outreach to adhere to emerging preferences, as well as deliberate, ongoing attempts at communication until meaningful interaction occurs between the prospective student and the institution, is crucial to the success of an enrollment management campaign.

“Any successful enrollment campaign should hinge on the following principle: Communicate something meaningful.”

– University Business

The human element plays a large and impactful role in the post-inquiry enrollment process. Prospective students polled on eLearners.com and EarnMyDegree.com in EducationDynamics’ “Prospective Student Enrollment Preferences” survey revealed that the most useful school-sponsored activity in their decision making process was interaction with effective enrollment counselors.

The respondents gave high ratings to these interactions, commenting that while the enrollment counselors were often assertive, they were also honest, caring and knowledgeable. In fact, it was the influence of enrollment counselors that participants ranked as the single most influential factor in their school selection.

Damaging practices to avoid.

Unfortunately, the responses gathered by the secret shoppers who tested quality-of-contact responses of various schools revealed a variety of damaging — yet common — practices. These included:

• Overly scripted, non-personalized outreach

• Enrollment representatives that are polite but not engaging

• Lack of knowledge regarding specific program information and educational financing options

• Outreach occurring at a time other than that designated by the prospect

• Multiple institutional follow up contacts that, rather than establishing any meaningful connection, simply annoy the prospect

According to University Business, any successful enrollment campaign should hinge on the following principle: Communicate something meaningful. Institutions should be certain to deliver relevant, compelling messages in a timely manner; not only does such quality outreach increase the likelihood that the prospective students will respond to the institution’s marketing efforts, but it has also been found to play a key role in securing their enrollment.

Additionally, University Business advises colleges and univeristies to let the prospective student dictate the content of the conversation; instead of assuming what students want or need, let them reveal it themselves. What programs are they interested in? In what way would they prefer to be contacted in the future? Giving prospective students this authority, and possessing the necessary information to properly respond to their questions and concerns, enhances the quality of interaction.

Case Study: Texas A&M’s Bush School of Government and Public Service

Ideally, interactions between prospective students and institutions should be personalized and brief yet substantive, a delicate balance perfected by Texas A&M’s Bush School of Government and Public Service. A leading graduate school offering online professional certificate programs in a variety of areas ranging from Advanced International Affairs and Homeland Security to Non-Profit Management, the Bush School has adopted superior customer service as the mantra of its prospective student advising and enrollment center.

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Closing the Gaps

While the Bush School’s chief objective is to enroll the most qualified students into their Web-based programs, they achieve that result through a consistent focus on quality interaction with prospective students. This begins with the prospective student’s initial impression of the recruitment experience and continues throughout all subsequent institutional interactions.

To that end, the Bush School utilizes both current students and full-time professional enrollment staff to field inquiries in a strategic attempt to meet prospective students’ needs. While existing students can speak to their personal experiences at the school and render a realistic, “insider’s view” of what it’s like to be a student, the professional enrollment counselor can speak to aspects of specific programs, student services, costs and similar issues. The institution has found that by combining both personalized, peer-to-peer information and more administrative-type information, prospective students have a stronger sense of actually understanding whether the program might be a good match for their personalities and circumstances.

To demonstrate their commitment to student input, the institution continually expands the type of students who contribute to the process. This is an especially wise consideration in light of the current economic downturn, because the institution is receiving more and more inquiries from older, seasoned professionals seeking to bolster their resumes with advanced graduate level certifications, each of which are distinguished on a Texas A&M University graduate transcript and can be transferred into most any graduate master’s degree. In response, the enrollment management department has staffed accordingly to ensure that this emerging prospective student demographic can speak with representatives whose lives reflect similar circumstances.

The institution, however, takes their superior customer support commitment one step further by supporting ongoing training with both student and full-time outreach staff on such topics as responsive counseling, program information and career opportunities, financial aid options and the expectations of the online learning experience.

The result of the Bush School’s focus on quality customer service plus “high-touch” connections with existing student recruitment staffers has resulted in exceptionally high levels of student conversions and a high level of alignment between student enrollees and the success of those students.

Case Study: Lehigh University

Lehigh University’s approach to inquiry management for their distance education program is specifically tailored to the prospective students’ interests and preferences. Due to the level of commitment by new distance education students, the recruitment cycle must be managed by a longer-term approach, utilizing a process whereby consistent information is distributed in a strategically timed schedule.

From an automatic email response to the initial inquiry, a series of program specific information is sent based on the prospective student’s identified areas of interest. A “Program Spotlight” email is sent highlighting the programs in which students have expressed an interest, along with more detailed program overviews, academic contact information and upcoming enrollment deadlines. Following that outreach, additional information is again sent three weeks prior to admission deadlines.

In addition, a survey is sent out approximately every two and a half years to uncommitted inquirers to determine continued interest on their part. Surprisingly, it’s been found that a significant number of prospects that are still on the fence respond positively to the follow-up contact and it has encouraged quite a few prospective students to apply. Although no solid metrics exist yet to indicate what percentage of these follow up surveys and calls result in admissions, it is highly likely that if the potential student is still considering online education, Lehigh is very high on their list.

Using this low-pressure but persistent approach — i.e., building relationships with prospective students — has allowed Lehigh to meet its strategic conversion goals year after year, despite a substantial increase in competition.

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Gap 3: Method of Contact

While prospective online students expect a swift and personalized response, institutions seeking to bolster enrollment yield must also evaluate the preferred contact method among prospective students, making sure to engage students via their preferred mediums.

Given the overwhelming popularity of email as a communications method, many colleges and universities incorrectly assume that email contact alone can prove effective in the post-inquiry enrollment process. To some degree, this is understandable: many prospective students considering online learning programs do, in fact, prefer to communicate by email. However, email should always be considered only a primary player in a multi-faceted contact approach that includes multiple communications options. This point was driven home by eLearners.com and EarnMyDegree.com survey respondents who indicated that human interaction is also an important element in their decision-making process.

When asked their preferred method of communication, the prospective online students polled gave greatest preference to email followed by phone, both of which out-ranked regular mail by a significant margin. This suggests that many prospective students like to step into the “shallow water” first, preferring to communicate by email during the early stage and moving on to phone interaction thereafter.

However, EducationDynamics’ research into whether institutions are using these preferred contact methods indicated that there is a substantial gap between what potential students prefer and how institutions are handling post-inquiry outreach processes. While 38 percent of colleges and universities first contacted students by email, in accordance with preferences, 40 percent of institutions used phone for initial outreach, 13 percent used regular mail and two percent used instant messaging. After initial contact but prior to enrollment, regular communication was shown to consist of 52 percent email, 42 percent phone.

Preferred Method of Initial Post-Inquiry Outreach

0 100 200 300 400 500

62% Email

25% Phone

15% Regular Mail

2% Instant Message

2% No Preference

Number of respondents who selected “most preferred” for each category

“EducationDynamics’ research into whether schools are using these preferred contact methods indicated that there is a substantial gap between what potential students prefer and how schools are handling post-inquiry outreach process.”

Persistence is key. In addition to identifying preferred methods of contact, research findings also indicate the importance of persistence — i.e., multiple follow-up contacts — to successful recruitment efforts. However, EducationDynamics’ secret shopper research revealed that many inquiries resulted in follow-up phone or email messages that placed the burden of any further contact between the prospective student and institution squarely on the shoulders of the prospective student. Also, many institutions seemed willing to conduct aggressive initial post-inquiry follow up, but then abandoned attempts at contact shortly thereafter.

The damage of this approach is substantial, given that 60 percent of enrollments close after the fifth contact and about 50 percent of disqualified leads become qualified within 12 months of the initial inquiry. Therefore, institutions’ post-inquiry process should incorporate multiple attempts at live contact in a reasonably short time frame, in order to ensure the greatest likelihood of conversion success.

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Closing the Gaps

Case Study: Texas A&M’s Bush School of Government and Public Service

The Bush School of Government and Public Service recognizes the importance not only of utilizing the desired means of communication for outreach but also persistent follow-up in regards to prospective student inquiries. In order to respond quickly to requests for information, the institution has developed a detailed follow-up procedure for their enrollment management office and student advising center using the two means of communication overwhelmingly preferred by today’s prospective online learners: email and phone.

Upon receipt of a student inquiry, the Bush School responds by email within 24 hours. At 48 hours, the recruitment team calls the potential student with the intention of arranging an appointment to discuss the prospective student’s needs. That outreach is followed shortly by a customized email. The enrollment management office reaches out to the prospective student once more 72 hours later, and every 72 hours thereafter for three weeks depending on the prospective student’s phase in the process.

The result of this at least five-step, rapid-response approach is to up the Bush School’s conversion numbers to align with the 60 percent sales-close percentages projected after the fifth contact.

Case Study: Post University

Driven by the dual pressures of high levels of online competition and increasing costs-per-lead, Post University decided several years ago to revamp both its post-inquiry response process and the IT infrastructure supporting that process, as mentioned above.

Although their immediate goal was to improve the amount of time it took to provide the initial response to a potential student inquiry, an additional objective was to create an entire response campaign built on the two tenets of persistence and consistency. In addition to ensuring that 90 percent of inquiries receive follow-up within 30 minutes, Post’s new process flow ramps out a specific call cycle that takes place over a period of weeks. The campaign is primarily email and phone-call-based, but is sufficiently flexible to respond to a prospective student’s stated communication preferences. (Post has found, however, that that initial phone call is critical — leads without phone contact information are assumed to have a very low likelihood of conversion, so for those leads, the goal of an initial email is to secure the prospect’s phone number and willingness to be called.)

Although the Post recruitment team notes that the post-inquiry response strategy is continually being tweaked to improve results, the changes they have made so far have resulted in a doubling of conversion rates from lead aggregators.

Case Study: Private, For-Profit College, >10,000 enrollments

Although this leading provider of globally accredited online education had been reasonably successful with its recruitment efforts, in the fall of 2008 they decided to change their contact strategy from calling within 24 hours to calling within one hour of receipt of inquiry. The goal was to “get in front of” the competition — a smart move since leads may be going to several online providers simultaneously and it is critical to get one’s value proposition in front of prospects as soon as they express interest.

The online education provider became equally strategic about its inquiry follow-up cycle. Once a lead is received, an email is sent to the prospective student immediately that links to the institution’s website so students can do more research at their convenience. Believing that some prospective students do not want a phone call and would prefer conversing online, this tactic represents a less intrusive way to meet their information needs, and drives inbound calls when the prospective student is ready to take the next step and enroll. In addition to the initial phone contact made within one hour of inquiry, a mailing is sent the following day, and emails are sent on days one, five, seven and 10, as part of a multi-faceted outreach process intended to provide contact over a 10-15 day period.

The result? Contact rates increased by 25-30 percent with a subsequent conversion rate increase of 1.5 percent.

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Gap 4: Web-Based Prospecting Activities

The dynamic nature of today’s new digital media, both supported and driven by the Internet, gives prospective students new tools for gathering information about an institution’s online programs, as well as those of competitors.

While quality human interaction is an important ingredient in the post-inquiry outreach process, institutions seeking to enroll online students should also make sure they provide prospects with an easily accessible, information-rich online resource. At the very least, this enables your prospective students to gather further information about the school and offered degree programs.

Survey respondents suggested that some information is more compelling than others in the decision-making process. For example, prospecting websites featuring information on cost details, admission requirements, counseling resources for financial aid and live course demos help prospects make better, faster school enrollment decisions, according to respondents of the EducationDynamics survey through Web properties eLearners.com and EarnMyDegree.com. However, an institution’s online initiatives should go beyond its website to include emerging interactive Web 2.0 platforms — topping prospective students’ online activity wish lists were school website-related activities, such as online course demos, blogs, forums and webinars.

Case Study: Texas A&M’s Bush School of Government and Public Service

The Bush School at Texas A&M has embraced the need for an effective prospecting website to increase visibility of the institution’s online programs. Besides providing extensive information regarding available online programs, the institution has leveraged its website to provide the greatest amount of “decision-support” information for prospective students through a discussion of academics focusing on the high quality of faculty assigned to lead online programs, the rigor of the courses and the rich exchange of ideas that form the basis of the institution’s education approach.

The Bush School has also adopted the use of media platforms such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter to get its message out, recognizing that effective student recruitment processes stem from developing a presence where prospective students live — online. Although the newness of these social media platforms preclude having hard data about their impact on either recruitment or conversion rates, they are becoming an increasingly popular part of the branding and positioning model for online programs.

21%

10%

9%

9%

23%

Student Preferred ProspectingWebsite Information

15% 14%

Other (Blogs 7%, IM 6%, Social Networks 4%, Video 4%, Podcasts 2%)

Student Success Stories

Contact with Existing Students/Graduates

Live Course Demo

Admission Requirements

Financial Aid Counseling

Cost Details

Number of respondents who selected “most influential” for each category0 100 200 300 400 500 600

30% Webinar/Online Seminar

25% Watch Video

32% Online Course Demo

21% Blogs & Forums

49% Enrollment Counselors

19% Social Networking Sites

Most Influential School-SponsoredActivities in Decision Making Process

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Closing the Gaps

Case Study: Bryant & Stratton University

Bryant & Stratton University has also taken an innovative approach to the integration of new media into its enrollment management initiatives.

The institution has developed an entire campus in Second Life, a free 3D virtual world where users can socialize and connect using voice and text chat. While this Web-based platform allows prospective students to explore the Bryant & Stratton campus on their own, the university also holds a series of virtual open houses and chat room events with admissions staff, faculty and institutional administrators all in attendance — through their personal avatars.

Another educational feature incorporated into Bryant & Stratton University’s online experience is a video Q&A function, wherein current and former students share answers to real questions posed by prospective students. As with the social media steps that the Bush School is taking, it’s too early to measure the impact of these steps on conversion rates. However, the EducationDynamics research clearly indicates that students are hoping — if not expecting — to see these Web 2.0 tools provided by potential online programs, so at the very least, not having them puts an institution at a competitive disadvantage.

Case Study: Private, For-Profit University, 3,000-10,000 enrollments

Because we live in an increasingly wireless world, a university’s ability to reach prospective students depends on savvy adaptation of its social media habits to meet the preferences of the modern online learner. This institution has developed a proactive approach to conversing with prospects by equipping their enrollment representatives with the necessary social media tools (e.g., Twitter profiles, smart phones, instant messaging accounts, etc.) and skills to interact in that environment when invited to do so by a prospective student. (No contact is initiated, for example, with a prospect on Facebook unless the prospective student first invites the school to connect with him or her.) In terms of post-inquiry outreach, however, the institution has found that a Facebook invite from a prospective student can sometimes be more valuable than the email address and phone number combined, providing a more detailed picture of the student and his or her life and goals.

Although all of these social media and/or Web-based initiatives are still in the testing stage and thus hard data like conversion rates is only now being developed, several key points have emerged.

First, provide as much “decision-support” information on your institution’s website as possible — this may include career prospects for graduates of your programs, welcoming bios for all of your online teaching staff and testimonials about the school and/or specific programs from current students or prospective employers, for example.

Second, try all of the social media tools, including the majors such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, but also consider niche social networks and online communities that may resonate with specific programs you offer.

Third, ask 20-somethings to help — the youngest members of your recruitment staff are likely to be the ones who will most effectively navigate this territory for you.

Fourth, understand that this is all new ground for recruiters, so there are as of yet no hard-and-fast rules, and universities are simply trying to determine best practices as they go along. Reliable analytics will start to emerge as more schools continue to experiment.

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Moving to ActionDespite universal hurdles that respondents indicated were the most significant hindrance to pursuing higher education — the table stakes of cost, flexibility and availability of online programs — institutions can address the more controllable barriers by adjusting their prospecting activities accordingly to align more closely with the emerging needs and preferences of online students.

These best practices are:

Speed and consistency of contact• Swift response matters — prospective students expect it. Competitive

institutions make initial contact within 30 minutes or less.• For best return on your post-inquiry efforts, it pays to qualify your leads

and then put greatest effort into those prospective students most likely to convert.

Quality of contact• Focus on information — gathering information from your prospect and

sharing information about your program offerings.• Use students to engage and connect peer-to-peer with prospective

students, whether for younger or older students.• Train, train and retrain — a well-informed recruitment team able to

answer questions quickly, completely and in thorough detail can help support faster decision-making.

Method of contact• Let your prospective students tell you how they want you to

communicate with them, then do it.• Develop a communications strategy and messaging that is equally

effective for email, phone, HTML or print delivery.• Be consistent in your follow-through; create a time-lined and/or

event-driven series of contact points and make sure that these are fol-lowed without exception on the schedule you have set.

Web-based prospecting activities• Create an information-rich website that gives prospective students

multiple opportunities to interact with you and other representatives of your program (students, professors, graduates, etc.) as they learn more about your offerings.

• Commit to learning about and having your program use the leading social media tools to reach students where they congregate online.

• Let your recruitment team know that the program is open to exploring new ways to “get the message out” via technology, and encourage them to present new ideas that either use new tools, or use existing tools in new ways.

“When you tailor your outreach

campaign to student preferences at the

beginning of contact, you set the stage for a

mutually-beneficial, trusting relationship

throughout the student lifecycle.”

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Closing the Gaps

Giving prospective students what they need and responding to them effectively at the start of the institution-student relationship not only helps to drive increased enrollment yield, but also ensures prospective students are matched with programs that best reflect their educational goals. Additionally, when you tailor your outreach campaign to prospective student preferences at the beginning of contact, you set the stage for a mutually-beneficial, trusting relationship throughout the student lifecycle.

Bottom line: In today’s online education market, students have a lot more choices than they used to. Your competitors may be down the street, across the country or on another continent. But you must assume that they will be searching for ways to tailor their enrollment management campaigns to most effectively sell their programs. As the EducationDynamics research gleaned from eLearners.com and EarnMyDegree.com shows, all recruitment is a delicate balance between aggressive outreach and sensitivity to prospect needs and preferences. The best practices described above should enable you to more effectively strike that balance, and improve

your competitive edge in this ultra-competitive market.

1 These statistics are based on new Aslanian Market Research.2 The school enrollment classifications are based on the Carnegie Foundation classifications.3 “Drive Student Enrollment Growth with Online Lead Generation,” Jere Doyle, July 2006, http://www2.universitybusiness.com/viewarticle.aspx?articleid=236&p=2#0

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If you have any questions about this white paper, EducationDynamics’ Web properties eLearners.com and EarnMyDegree.com and/or additional best practices in enrollment

management, please contact Howard Mandel at 201.377.3020 or hmandel@educationdynamics.com.

About EducationDynamics

EducationDynamics is the proven leader in helping higher education institutions find, enroll and retain students. For over a decade, we’ve proudly served the postsecondary community by working diligently with schools to solve critical challenges and achieve organizational goals. Our mission is to help colleges and universities meet and exceed their recruitment, enrollment, and retention objectives by guiding students through their higher education experience and assisting educational administrators advance their institution. We have worked hard to earn and maintain our industry leadership through a deeply-rooted philosophy of serving our partners best by serving students first. This commitment has been at the heart of our success since we began and continues today as we support more than 1,200 colleges and universities nationwide.

About eLearners.com®

The eLearners.com website is one of several high visibility, high-quality prospecting tools offered by EducationDynamics. Since 1999, eLearners.com has been successfully connecting learners to online education, including online degree and certificate programs, specialized career training and a variety of online courses. For prospective students, eLearners.com provides a powerful search engine for users to find thousands of online program offerings, as well as educational evaluation tools and financial aid resources. For colleges and universities, the eLearners.com website offers a low-cost, performance-based method to provide national exposure and increase enrollments in their programs. For more information on eLearners.com, visit http://www.eLearners.com.

About EarnMyDegree.com

EarnMyDegree.com is a network of leading websites that connects prospective students with colleges, universities and online learning programs. Established in 2003, EarnMyDegree.com serves as a one-stop directory for undergraduate and advanced degrees, as well as professional certificates in a variety of fields from business to healthcare to technology. EarnMyDegree.com’s team of marketing experts, designers and copywriters have a proven track record for optimizing marketing campaign results to increase qualified leads. To learn more, visit http://www.EarnMyDegree.com.

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Closing the Gaps

If you have any questions about this white paper, EducationDynamics and/or additional best practices in enrollment management, please contact:

Howard MandelExecutive Vice President of Sales

5 Marine View Plaza, Suite 212Hoboken, NJ 07030Phone: 201.377.3020Fax: 201.377.3081hmandel@educationdynamics.com

www.EducationDynamics.com/Find-Students

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