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TRANSCRIPT
Improving Access: Effectively Communicating with Parents and Students
Madeleine Rhyneer
Albion College
Ronda Russell
Montana State University
Brian K. Smith
Memphis University School
Engaging parents creates greater opportunity for recruitment and enrollment, as well as improved student retention
Overview of studies on college costs, parental influence, and communication preferences
Online surveys of parents of prospective students
(1) Focused on college options, cost, and decision
criteria - 2,046 participants during 2013
enrollment cycle
(2) Focused on parental influence and
communication preferences - 2,832 participants
during 2012 enrollment cycle
Key findings:
Communication and influence
The primary areas of parental influence
How much influence would you say you have over _______? Mean Score
How much is spent on your child’s college education 4.38
The amount of debt the family will incur for your child’s education 4.37
The amount of personal debt your child will incur 4.10
Whether your child contributes personal funds to pay for college 3.91
The specific school(s) your child visits 3.65
Whether your child works while attending college 3.52
The specific school(s) your child considers 3.27
Mean scores are based on a 5-point scale, where 1 = no influence and 5 = significant influence.
How parents engage in college choice
• Talked with child about schools being considered
• Searched for information on a college’s website
• Read printed materials colleges sent to child
• Read email messages sent directly to parent
• Helped child compare options by weighing the pros and
cons of different schools
• Talked with child about different college majors
• Talked with child about financing college
Reported by 75% or more of parents responding
How parents get the information they need
• 85.4% by searching on college websites
• 84.3% by reading materials mailed to them and/or their child from
colleges
• 81.0% by reading email sent to them and/or their child
• 75.0% by searching for information online using popular search
engines
When parents want specific information
Freshman
Year
Sophomore
Year
Junior
Year
Senior
Year
Costs (e.g., tuition, housing, fees) 76.9% 49.8% 73.3% 52.4%
Financing college 75.0% 40.6% 58.7% 34.8%
Financial aid 73.5% 43.1% 62.1% 47.1%
Scholarships 70.4% 46.0% 65.3% 46.2%
General information about the college 64.9% 44.1% 48.8% 15.0%
Application dates/deadline reminders 59.1% 21.4% 49.6% 60.6%
Room and board options 56.5% 26.9% 44.2% 50.3%
Housing options 54.4% 25.7% 43.8% 49.4%
Location of the school and area around it 47.3% 27.8% 39.4% 14.3%
Degree programs 41.6% 27.3% 37.9% 12.3%
Majors/minors 38.6% 24.4% 34.1% 11.4%
Career opportunities related to specific majors 26.5% 21.7% 29.5% 17.2%
Parents want to receive information directly from colleges as well as view materials sent to their child
73.4%
13.7%
12.9%
Parent communication preference
Sent to Parent
Sent to Student
Sent to Parent and Student
How most parents prefer to receive information
Primary
Channel
Secondary
Channel
Costs Mail Web
Financing college Mail Email
Financial aid Mail Email
Scholarships Mail Email
General information about the college Mail Web
Application deadline reminders Email Mail
Campus safety Web Email
Room and board options Web Mail
Housing options Web Mail
Another view
Email Mail Web Phone
Costs (e.g., tuition, housing, fees) 62.4% 73.2% 67.7% 11.6%
Financing college 56.3% 66.6% 52.9% 23.1%
Financial aid 61.6% 70.8% 51.3% 34.7%
Scholarships 65.2% 67.9% 50.7% 38.2%
General information about the college 46.0% 62.0% 56.6% 12.1%
Application deadline reminders 80.3% 44.3% 39.8% 45.1%
Campus safety 43.1% 40.9% 63.4% 15.0%
Room and board options 45.0% 55.2% 60.3% 6.9%
Housing options 44.4% 53.7% 61.1% 7.5%
Some popular digital channels … not so popular
• Just 1.7% have followed a school on Twitter
• Just 2.6% have used online chat with a school
representative
• Just 4.9% have used RSS to subscribe to school
updates
Overall, parents are unlikely to rely upon blogs, podcasts,
chats, wikis, and other social digital channels
• Parents believe they have the most influence over the
financial aspects of college choice
• Parents desire information, and they also want their
children to have information
• With each entering class, parents are more likely to be
Internet savvy and increasingly mobile in their use of
technology
Key insights
Desired content will vary throughout the college search
• Financial planning and feasibility > freshman year
• General college information > sophomore year
• Specific schools, majors, careers, scholarships and
financial aid > junior year
• Applications (tips and deadlines), enrollment, housing >
senior year
Key insights
Key findings:
College cost and considerations
1. College cost is a concern, but it is not the only thing parents are worried about when considering their child’s college choice.
What makes you most concerned or anxious about your child’s college choice? Mean
The cost of attending first-choice school 1.57
Whether he/she will be admitted to first-choice school 1.77
The cost of attending any college 1.87
If the college where he/she enrolls will be a good fit 1.88
How much financial support will be provided 2.06
Whether he/she will be successful in college 2.07
His/her personal safety on campus 2.20
His/her exposure to drugs and alcohol on campus 2.30
Whether he/she will be able to get a job after graduation 2.40
Whether the cost of attendance will increase after enrollment 2.60
Means are based on rankings from 1 to 3, where 1 indicates greatest concern.
Key finding
Other expressed concerns include:
• Debt their child would have upon graduation
• Their child’s ability to complete college in four years
• Whether their child will be admitted to graduate school after
college
Additional concerns
2. More than one in four parents are unsure about how much they will invest annually in their child’s education.
What is the maximum amount you would pay from income and
savings and/or with borrowed funds per year?
Total Amount
Income and Savings
Borrowed/ Loan Amount
Percent Percent Percent
Unsure/don’t know 28.0 22.2 30.2
$5,000 or less 9.8 15.3 18.7
$5,001-$10,000 8.3 15.0 18.7
$10,001-$15,000 9.3 11.7 11.2
$15,001-$20,000 9.1 6.9 7.0
$20,001-$25,000 8.6 8.1 4.0
$25,001-$30,000 7.1 6.3 3.6
$30,001-$35,000 3.3 2.6 0.6
$35,001-$40,000 3.6 2.7 1.2
$40,001-$45,000 2.3 2.0 1.4
$45,001-$50,000 3.6 2.2 1.2
More than $50,000 7.0 5.2 2.0
Key finding
By type of schools under consideration
51%
17%
8%
24%
Considering Public Only
40%
11% 6%
43%
Considering Private Only
Unsure/don’t know
$15,000 or less
$15,001-$30,000
$30,001 or more
3. Parents will rely on a number of different
resources to cover college costs.
• Parents indicated the portion of total education
costs they expect to be covered by different
sources
– Grants and scholarships
– Income and savings
– Borrowed funds/loans
Key finding
Expected funding by sources – some or all
55.7% 53.9%
37.9%
0.0%
20.0%
40.0%
60.0%
9.4%
5.4%
2.4%
0.0%
2.0%
4.0%
6.0%
8.0%
10.0%
Parents who expect a portion of
child’s education to be funded
from each source
Parents who expect 100% of
child’s education to be funded
from each source
Income/ savings
Loans Grants/ scholarships
Income/ savings
Grants/ scholarships
Loans
4. Parents may be waiting too late in the college search process to enable optimal decisions that balance cost and quality.
When parents are most likely to focus on college costs Percent
Costs will come into play only after the admission decision and financial awards
are received. 50.6
I am considering cost of attending throughout the college search process. 33.4
Cost of attending will be/was considered during the application phase. 11.4
Unsure/don’t know 2.6
Key finding
5. The school characteristics parents value most are ones that will set their child up for success – in school and upon graduation.
When you think about college costs and what your child gets for the price you pay,
what would you say is most valuable to you? Mean
Excellence in teaching 1.66
Successful job placement after college 1.90
Strong support services for students’ academic success 1.95
Successful graduate school placement after college 2.00
National/international reputation 2.01
Strong institutional traditions 2.02
Small class sizes 2.12
Safe and secure campus environment 2.19
Modern, state-of-the-art classrooms, laboratories, and other academic resources 2.19
Means are based on rankings from 1 to 3, where 1 is most valuable.
Key finding
6. Parents want information about costs throughout their child’s high school career, but more seem to expect it in the student’s junior year.
Student’s
Freshman
Year
Student’s
Sophomore
Year
Student’s
Junior
Year
Student’s
Senior
Year
Percent Percent Percent Percent
Sources of funds to pay for college 34.8 25.4 43.7 35.0
Costs (e.g., tuition, fees, housing) 32.1 33.7 68.8 45.9
Financial aid 29.3 22.1 47.1 46.1
Scholarships 29.3 27.2 60.0 54.3
Key finding
Parent engagement strategies in practice
Global strategies for parent communications
• Building communication campaigns specifically for
parents
• Providing financial information to support
discussions within households
• Designing on-campus events for parents
• Strengthening your website with a parent “portal”
• Maximizing online search outcomes (SEO efforts)
The case at Albion College
A few examples:
• Email campaign throughout admission process
• On-campus and online events for parents
• Structured faculty/parent interaction during campus visit programs
• Web and print promotion of “The Albion Advantage” and alumni
success stories
• Mail piece to parents debunking the myth that college is too expensive
and not worth the investment
• Flyer included in each visit packet for students/parents on campus
describing paying for college as a partnership where the parents, the
college/university, the student, and perhaps the state/federal
government all play a role.
Albion has 4,531 parent
email addresses from last
year’s Search. These will
be used to communicate
with parents in the future.
Parent Email Submissions
Search 2013
Provided
Parent Email
4,531
46%
No
Parent Email
5,271
54%
Albion is focusing efforts on trying to collect parent email to
make a more holistic experience
The case at Albion College
Provided
Parent Email
4,531
46%
No
Parent Email
5,271
54%
Can parental involvement improve application submission rates?
• Test goal
– Can we increase the application submission rate by sending
email deadline reminders to the parents?
• Test setup
– Control group – emails sent only to the prospective students
– Test group – additional emails sent to the parents
The case at Albion College
Provided
Parent Email
4,531
46%
No
Parent Email
5,271
54%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
9/15 10/15 11/15 12/15 1/15
Control – Only student pre-submission emails Test – Student and parent pre-submission emails
+7%
Audience Completion % Avg. App SAT
Test 43% 1184
Control 43% 1174
First parent email Deployed 9/14
Second parent email Deployed 11/2
Third parent email Deployed 11/13
Application Rate – Entering Class 2013
The case at Albion College
The case at Montana State University
• Separate parent and student email
campaigns from suspect to prospect
to admit to enroll and after
• Social and informative on-campus parent
events held pre-enrollment, at orientation
(separate intensive parent orientation
program) and after students are enrolled
• Very nice parent and family website
The case at Montana State University
Search continues to build a database of parent email addresses
19%
55%
0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
Search 2010 Search 2013
Parent Email Provided
Search
Submitted
Parent
% Parent
Submitted
2010 7,231 19%
2013 21,881 55%
Change + 14,650 + 289%
Parent Email Submissions Search 2010-2013
The case at Montana State University
Enrollment Rates by Parent Email Submission Entering Class 2013
9.8%
76.6%
15.1% 13.5%
77.8%
16.0%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
Submission Rate Admit Rate Enrolled Rate
No Parent Email Parent Email
The case at Montana State University
Comprehensive fulfillment: Building a stronger relationship with students and parents over 30 days
• Immediate fulfillment of offer and invitation to campus
• Series of emails to student, containing information about MSU proved to be of greatest interest to prospects
• Series of emails to parent, strategically focused on the topics that matter most in parental decision making
S M T W T F S
1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 12 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30
The case at Montana State University
Email Sent to Parent
Email Sent to Student
Excitement from students and parents in response to email communications
“Thank you so much for welcoming me with such kindness. I am looking forward to
my trip to the MSU campus next year, and hope that soon MSU will be my temporary
home. Thank you again for getting me familiar with the activities and taking time out
of your day to do so.”
“Thank you for the follow-up regarding my daughter. Shelby is currently a sophomore
and your school is the first to contact her. She was very excited and liked what she
saw. I have not reviewed the website in much detail but plan on doing that this week
and will use the resources you provided to answer any questions I might have. Again,
thank you for your help; we look forward to visiting campus and exploring what is
available!”
– Student
– Parent
The case at Montana State University
From the high school perspective
Communicating with parents The Parent’s Role
Listen
Be supportive
Be realistic
Maintain contact with the college counseling office
Recognize your child’s success
Maintain that poker face
Questions?