February
Future Trends in Higher Ed
As pointed out by Bob Johnson, the Noel-Levitz people have released their study of college-bound students’ expectations of college websites. While they’re tossing the results to us for free (so I shouldn’t complain), I have to say that something smells fishy.
Here’s the meat:
Here are the top activities students said they would like to complete on college Web sites:
1. Complete a financial aid estimator form (88%)
2. Complete a tuition cost calculator form (83%)
3. Complete an admissions application online (81%)
4. Request a campus visit by completing a form (81%)
5. Exchange instant messages with an admissions counselor or student worker (72%)
6. Complete a form to RSVP for a campus event (72%)
7. Inquire online (70%)
8. Read profiles of faculty (64%)
9. E-mail a faculty member (64%)
10. Read a blog written by a member of the faculty (64%)
11. Read profiles of current students (63%)
12. Read a blog written by a current student (63%)
13. View a virtual tour (63%)
14. Personalize a Web site (62%)
15. E-mail current students from the site (61%)
Notice anything strange? How about the conspicuous absence of “Read about my major”? For that matter, the absence of students saying that they wanted to do anything conventional, such as reading a plain, old webpage. Every single item deals with some sort of higher ed web gimmick or trend (admittedly many–like online applications and inquiries–are very useful and have become essential). As Bob Johnson says about Financial Aid and Tuition Calculators “Not too many of those out and about the land.”
So if there aren’t too many of the top two items actually implemented on college websites, then where did these random thousand students get the idea that they wanted them?
I would like to see the survey questions, because I believe that the students were given a menu of flashy items to choose from–many of which they may have never known were possible before seeing them on the survey. In other words, the questions led the responses. Every other survey I have seen that did not lead the students resulted in students mentioning researching or reading about their chosen major, financial aid, etc. I’m sure you can see the problem with leading students in this way–I could create a survey with the option “get a free Ferrari” and then announce that is what students want most from their college when it inevitably turned up at the top of the list.
February 7th, 2007 at 7:23 pm
Great posting, Morgan.
“So if there aren’t too many of the top two items actually implemented on college websites, then where did these random thousand students get the idea that they wanted them?”
Well, maybe because this is something they would like to see there — be able to find out how much financial help you can get is definitely something prospective students will like to do.
But, I get your point.
When I posted about the study back in October and the list, Stephanie Geyer from NL posted a comment (scroll down a bit).
She might be the right person to ask your question.
February 7th, 2007 at 8:06 pm
Wow, the report is pretty old news isn’t it? I honestly wanted to leave something like this as a comment for Bob Johnson. He has commenting disabled, so I stuck it in here. I think I will drop Ms. Geyer an email if I get a chance.
February 8th, 2007 at 11:20 pm
Morgan, I can’t agree with you more on this subject….
February 10th, 2007 at 9:18 pm
[...] Case in point, the “E- Expectations Class of 2007” study entitled “Engaging the ‘Social Networking ‘Generation.” When asked what they wanted to do on a college’s Web site, the top student response was: Complete a financial aid estimator form (88%) see erelevant for the full list and discussion [...]
February 12th, 2007 at 10:49 pm
Hey there, Morgan. Sorry that my response wasn’t as quick as you had hoped. Spent the weekend at home with the flu. Thought I would just copy and paste my e-mail to you here for the group to consider. I welcome any additional ideas or feedback. We are preparing to go back to the field later this month with many of the same questions (and many new ones) to see how they may (or may not) have shifted in their experiences, preferences, and expectations. Stay tuned!
Dear Morgan,
I really appreciated your thoughtful message regarding the study. We did a parallel question regarding top content resources. Here are the results from the study this year. The numbers in parenthesis reflect the responses from the Class of 2006 series. As you can see, not a lot of significant change, which is part of the reason we didn’t make it the centerpiece of our white paper this year.
Q5. How valuable is information about:
Mean Order:
Scholarships Mean: 4.53 (4.63)
Academic programs or majors Mean: 4.44 (4.53)
Financial aid Mean: 4.43 (4.48)
Tuition and fees Mean: 4.26 (4.61)
Housing and residence life Mean: 4.09 (4.01)
Student life and activities Mean: 4.03 (3.90)
Faculty and teaching Mean: 4.02 (n/a)
Job placement rates Mean: 3.94 (n/a)
Visiting campus Mean: 3.94 (n/a)
Graduate school placement Mean: 3.92 (n/a)
Internships or co-ops Mean: 3.77 (4.28)*
Athletic programs Mean: 3.52 (3.53)
Accreditation Mean: 3.51 (n/a)
National rankings, (USNWR) Mean: 3.44 (n/a)
Successful alumni Mean: 3.41 (2.82)
Food service and meals Mean: 3.37 (3.13)
Profiles of current students Mean: 3.07 (2.76)
Parking Mean: 2.89 (2.54)
Top Two Boxes Summary:
Scholarships 90% (94%)
Academic programs/majors 88% (91%)
Financial aid 86% (88%)
Tuition and fees 80% (92%)
Housing/residence life 77% (74%)
Student life/activities 76% (71%)
Faculty/teaching 75% (n/a)
Job placement rates 70% (n/a)
Graduate school placement 70% (n/a)
Visiting campus 70% (n/a)
Internships/co-ops 64% (85%)
Athletic programs 54% (55%)
Accreditation 49% (n/a)
Rankings/US News 48% (n/a)
I do understand that adding a lot of online services can be challenging for institutions that don’t have a lot of extra time or money to devote to their site. There are, indeed, some other ways to achieve the main goals of a tuition or scholarship calculator. Here are two of my favorite examples:
http://www.lawrence.edu/admissions/finaid/examples.shtml
http://www.asu.edu/fa/coa/stories/alexanders_story.html
Let me know if I can be of further service.
Stephanie Geyer
Noel-Levitz
303.714.5635
February 12th, 2007 at 11:10 pm
Thanks for the response Stephanie!
July 1st, 2008 at 8:30 pm
The point is that families (and I work with families looking at colleges) want to know the real cost as early as possible – and colleges do a terrible job of giving up that information. While a FA estimator is only one solution, it is at least a step in the right direction. I believe the pressure to divulge the real cost to go to that college will only increase in the coming years. No survey needs to tell me that no matter how good or bad it was designed.