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WHAT MOTIVATES PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS? EXAMINING THE DECISION-TO-ENROLL PROCESS

WHAT MOTIVATES PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS? EXAMINING THE DECISION-TO-ENROLL PROCESS. A Collaboration between Datamark and Kaplan University . RESEARCH OBJECTIVE AND METHODOLOGY. Gain insight into the decision-making process

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WHAT MOTIVATES PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS? EXAMINING THE DECISION-TO-ENROLL PROCESS

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  1. WHAT MOTIVATES PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS? EXAMINING THE DECISION-TO-ENROLL PROCESS A Collaboration between Datamark and Kaplan University

  2. RESEARCH OBJECTIVE AND METHODOLOGY • Gain insight into the decision-making process • 2 phases of the decision process: Initial idea-to-research and research-to-enrollment • Online Panel distributed across: • Prospects, applicants, enrollees • Undergrad, graduate programs • Online and ground schools

  3. KEY QUESTIONS ADDRESSED • Why do prospective students seek higher education? • How much time do prospective students spend gathering information, and how do they go about it? • How do prospective students narrow their choices? • What influences a prospective student’s decision to apply to a particular school? • What factors carry the most weight in a prospective student’s decision to enroll?

  4. KEY FINDINGS • Initial Interest and Motivations • Prospective students are seeking more education to achieve a set goal. • Research • The majority of prospective students start the research process within one to two months of deciding to further their education. • The primary source of information are school websites and internet searches. • Selection • The most important factors in narrowing down their school consideration list are the program of interest is offered and the cost of the program. • Application • About one-third of prospective students did not apply due to financial reasons. • Of those who did not apply, 62% still intended to further their education. • Enrollment • The three most important factors when deciding which school to enroll in are accreditation, amount of financial aid provided and program cost.

  5. TOP LIFE/CAREER SITUATIONAL MOTIVATORS

  6. HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE STUDENTS TO DECIDE ABOUT GOING BACK TO SCHOOL?

  7. WHERE DO STUDENTS GO TO RESEARCH SCHOOLS?

  8. HOW MUCH TIME PASSES BETWEEN THE RESEARCH & APPLICATION PHASES?

  9. HOW DO THE PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS NARROW DOWN THEIR SCHOOL CHOICES?

  10. NUMBER OF SCHOOLS NARROWED TO CONSIDERATION

  11. REASONS FOR NOT APPLYING

  12. DECIDING TO APPLY

  13. DECIDING TO ENROLL

  14. LEARNING APPLIED • Prospect marketing • Remarketing • Dialog • Admissions

  15. CONCLUSION: • Focus on the prospective student’s end goal • Focus on the key consideration variables • Provide the right information at the right time

  16. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR A SCHOOL? • Why is it important to understand decision to enroll? • Decision to enroll does not start at the generation of the inquiry • Decision to enroll has multiple touch points • Segmentation • Student experience

  17. WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND DECISION TO ENROLL?

  18. WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND DECISION TO ENROLL?

  19. WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND DECISION TO ENROLL?

  20. WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND DECISION TO ENROLL?

  21. WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND DECISION TO ENROLL? Decision to enroll different for students with more risk factors

  22. WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND DECISION TO ENROLL? … decision to enroll less obvious for students who are traditionally not marketed to

  23. WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND DECISION TO ENROLL? … for profit tuition prices likely not sustainable at current levels

  24. IDENTIFY DECISION TO ENROLL EARLY IN FUNNEL

  25. IDENTIFY DECISION TO ENROLL EARLY IN FUNNELL … CREATES VIRTUOUS CIRCLE Identify Decision to Enroll Early Higher QualityInquiries Higher market share and growth Lower Admissions cost, re-investment in academic quality Lower Acquisition cost (pull vs. push) Improved LTR, graduation rates, job placements Higher quality alumni advocates

  26. HOWEVER, IDENTIFYING EARLY NOT AS EASY … …. Current screening technologies have high value but do not answer the fundamental question … “WHY” InquiryScore ComplianceFraud Device IP Inquiry Authenticity Phone Verification InquiryContactability InquiryAge InquiryVelocity And risk a series of costly binary decisions around “good” or “bad”

  27. ESPECIALLY TAKING MULTIPLE TOUCHPOINTS

  28. HOW TO INCORPORATE RESEARCH • Understand the student • Understand (and measure) the journey • Find white space and differentiate • Segment the enrollment process • Post enrollment should pull pre enrollment

  29. UNDERSTAND THE STUDENT • Academic concerns • Personal challenges • Revisions to motivations / dedication • Program challenges Academic Advisor • Attitude towards debt • Academic concerns / preferences • Personal challenges • Revisions to motivations / dedication FA Advisor First Term • Personal challenges • Instructor concerns / tickets (eg logging in, but not posting) • Poor quality posts • GPA • Attendance • Participation Professors • Motivations/ dedication • Past schooling (credits, GPA) • Best contact medium/time/day • Computer access • Standardized test scores • Time commitment Admission advisor 360° student profile • IT development needs • Hardware specs / literacy IT Support

  30. MEASURE THE JOURNEY

  31. FIND WHITESPACE AND DIFFERENTIATE School1 School 2 School 3 School 4 School 5 School 6 School7 School 8 School 9 School 10 • For working parents • Most personalized experience • Best customer service • Most unique and different • Best student communityexperience • Best students • Most practical, real worldeducation • Most support to make yousuccessful as a student • Most degree choice/breadth • Most challenging • Best professors/faculty • Hardest, most rigorous academicprogram • Most difficult to be accepted into • Most/best career placement • Most prestigious • Most successful alumni • Most respected by employers • Best/most memorableads/marketing • Most affordable • For women                                                                    Experience Academic Outcomes Other

  32. ADJUST ENROLLMENT PROCESS AND SUPPORT SERVICES STRUCTURE Diagnostic recap Key recommendations Decision to enroll differs across student populations Online universities viewed largely as same by students Needs and attitudes differ across student "life stage” Decision to enroll is a life changing decision Price and out of pocket are key drivers to enroll Incorporate use of segment profiles by degree and by selected program in marketing efforts, inquiry scoring, and in enrollment reengineering Test and prioritize differentiated positioning, leverage big data Dynamic messaging across all touch points over the life stage of the student. Segmented contact strategy Don’t underestimate the value of support services Current price levels at many for-profits are not sustainable. Re-engineer the business model

  33. MAKE POST ENROLLMENT PULL PRE ENROLLMENT PRE ENROLLMENT POST ENROLLMENT SUCCESS PATHING ADMISSIONS MARKETING GRADUATION ASSESSMENT Risk Assessment Advisor Matching ModularizedEducation Profiling Placement Value Based Pricing Program Evaluation Skill Based Diagnostics SupportServices

  34. Thank you.

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