Report finds students seeking a number of sources to aid in selecting a school.
In The Super Investigator: Understanding Today’s ‘Always On’ Prospective Student, the Lipman Hearne marketing and communications firm and the college search website Cappex.com document the survey results of more than 11,000 high school juniors and seniors and college students interested in transferring as to how they “are consuming and responding to ever-changing college marketing channels.”
“Gone are the days when researching a college consisted of poring over guidebooks,
such as the 1,591-page edition of Barron’s Profiles of American Colleges. … A different world confronts admissions officers today,” writes Lipman Hearne chairman Tom Abrahamson in The Super Investigator.
The leading five school characteristics survey respondents attributed as most important when considering a “good fit institution” are: 1) scholarship and financial aid packages; 2) potential academic major has a strong reputation; 3) affordable tuition and fees; 4) institution has strong academic reputation; and 5) institution helps graduates get good jobs. Other key findings from the survey are that 55 percent of college-bound students are researching colleges every day and that 45 percent use a mobile device to visit college websites.
Among the 55 percent said to be researching colleges daily, the report found that they “conduct much of their college research online and engage socially — through discussions with friends, counselors and parents — to hone their college search.”
“Direct mail and email are still important, but online vehicles have emerged as standard college search sources,” according to the report.
