The College Search: Parents and Students Value Proposition Compared
From the moment their kids are born, parents strive to raise them with a similar world view.
In their formative years, the pushback from teens might seem constant, but our survey reveals many similarities when it comes to how both groups tally up the positives and negatives as they build their post-secondary wish list.
What are the most important factors to consider in the search process?
Students and parents alike are increasingly concerned about the rising costs of higher education, a topic that weighs heavily on their minds. Students’ selection of cost as a top concern is 9% higher than the parents’ responses. Both groups place a high value on overall happiness, recognizing its importance as an emotional measure of well-being. While financial considerations are crucial, students also value elements of campus life, including the presence of friends, the size of the school, and the variety of clubs available, as these factors significantly influence their college experience and satisfaction.
Do parents know what their students value?
After asking parents what they value – and seeing the comparisons line up with students, we wanted to know if parents understood what their teenagers were thinking when it comes to ranking post-secondary options. In many cases, the students were underestimated by the parents who thought they weren’t as concerned about finances as they would be about campus facilities and attending where their friends are attending.
Addressing the cost of Higher Education with Parents & Students
1. TRANSPARENT PRICING: Cost calculators and transparent pricing helps students, and their parents add up the costs and make informed decision.
2. SCHOLARSHIPS AND FINANCIAL AID: Setting the expectation for families can help them determine what scholarships are likely to apply to them. Many schools offer automatic scholarships based on the combination of a students’ GPA and standardized test scores. Setting the expectation up front can help students know what’s possible for them.
3. FINANCIAL PLANNING HELP: As parents and students begin their search early in their high school years, schools can create digital resource guides on funding higher education including blogs, webinars, savings plans and work-study opportunities.
4. VALUE TO COST/ROI: Not every degree is created equal and job market conditions can vary. Schools can showcase hiring rates for recent graduates and average earnings for new grads by degree program.
Institutions have historically focused on the school amenities, campus life and prestige branding in their enrollment marketing. Today’s student is still interested in these shiny objects, but only if they can ascertain whether the price tag is worth the future payoff. For colleges and vocational schools to compete, costs and benefits, scholarships and financial aid must become a part of the up-front messaging targeting students as well as parents.
Download
The 2nd Annual
Parent & Student Survey
FOR HIGHER EDUCATION
and learn how to better reach your most targeted enrollment segments: students and their parents.
This guide outlines the biggest current challenges of education marketers, and ideas showing how your enrollment strategy can overcome and thrive.
95%
of parents are using digital sources to research post-secondary options for their children
95%
of ALL teens use YouTube
2x
the number of parents are considering vocational schools than their children
