Ypulse Sponsored Post: Attracting Transfer Students
Posted by meredith on 07-27-2009Today we have our monthly sponsored post from Jason Bakker, the Director of Marketing at Campus Media Group, the exclusive sponsor of the Ypulse Campus Channel. This is the latest in a monthly series of posts that's part of Campus Media Group's site sponsorship.
Also, a reminder to organizations with a cause or awareness message for students: Campus Media Group will be accepting applications for their annual College Newspaper PSA program until August 17. This is an amazing opportunity to compete for FREE promotion to students in campus media across the country. For more details on the program and how to apply, check out the Campus Media site.
Attracting Transfer Students
Typically, the incoming transfer student comes from a community college, but the poor economy, in some instances, has students at more expensive private schools trading down for something cheaper.
A recent article points to a national trend of public universities seeing an uptick in transfer applications. It notes that Indiana University is seeing a 23% increase in transfers, and the University of North Carolina is watching its transfers climb more than 15%.
Students today are paying attention to the rising costs of higher education and the toll it can take on them long term. They don’t want to be riddled with debt after graduation and are being more pragmatic when deciding on a school from which to earn a degree. They don’t want to sacrifice quality, though, either.
Marketing messages to prospective students need to reinforce the value of college programs and the distinction that comes with earning a degree there. Students are thinking about their future beyond their four-year degree now, and a school that markets a message of wanting to help students reach their life goals will win.
Enrollment marketers should set those marketing tactics in motion. Whether your plan involves college newspaper ads, direct mail, student bloggers, or that Twitter account you haven’t figured out yet, the opportunity to catch potential transfer students now is at an all-time high.
Some schools are already doing a great job. Take, for instance, Oklahoma State University-Tulsa. It has a tuition waiver program called the “Cowboy Commitment” that is meant to entice transfer students. For example, a student who transfers with a 3.5 or higher grade-point average will receive a $650 waiver each semester for three semesters.
Texas Lutheran University has a scholarship program designed to steal away students from the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University in College Station. TLU CHOICE, as it is called, gives students the chance to attend their private liberal arts college for the same cost of attending one of the other public college or universities. The message here is to get the private school education at the state school cost. Doesn’t the Bible say something about stealing?
All kidding aside, you can see that some schools are being unique in their approach to this opportunity. Other enrollment marketers need to revisit their transfer student recruitment plans and reach out to students who would be a good fit for the school in a new way.
For more campus coverage, visit the Ypulse Campus Channel.
Categorized under: Collegians
July 27th, 2009 at 11:50 am
[...] see what some schools are doing to attract potential transfer students, read my recent post for Ypulse by clicking [...]
August 1st, 2009 at 7:51 am
Jason –
I hate to say so, since you know I'm a big fan of your marketing efforts, but I think you're on the wrong track with transfer students. I think I have at least some knowledge on the matter, as the dean of admissions at one of the largest transfer destinations in the U.S. and since my primary area of research is on transfer students, particularly between community college and baccalaureate institutions. Here's a few thoughts:
1) The "increase" in transfers is misleading – actually several schools are marketing to population more, but even several years ago we were already at a point where 60% of students receiving bachelor degrees transferred at some point in their college career (see Cliff Adelman's pathways to college data from the department of education).
2) There is very little evidence that community college or other transfer students are more prone to respond to value or discount pitches than any other enrollment market. As with any marketing effort, claims of being less expensive can just as easily translate in student minds to lower quality rather than higher value, so at best this is a risky proposition.
3) what does clearly work with trnasfers (and every other market segment) is assertions of quality – particularly where lines can be drawn between quality and outcomes (jobs and earning potential). Stragely, we've managed to tie this quality concept to exclusivity – if a school can claim to have less space and be harder to get into, it is more likely to be perceived as offering strong outcomes. This is especially surprising as it flies in the face of:
4) Transfer students, far more than freshmen (but similarly to graduate students) want convenience and expedience. Access to online courses (I can go one about real and perceived access to online courses for even longer), evening and weekend, aceptance of credit, and general accommodation and assimilation of transfer students are HUGE issues, often far outweighing (although also influencing through time to degree) cost of attendance.
I'll likely blog about this a bit myself – happy to chat with you or Anastasia about it anytime.
Andrew
August 4th, 2009 at 5:29 am
Thanks Andrew. From our previous discussions, you know I respect your opinion on this stuff too. There are lots of factors playing in here. Affordability vs. exclusivity is an interesting debate in of itself. We are overdue for a talk anyway, so I'll reach out soon.
August 12th, 2009 at 10:49 am
[...] Bakker is a most excellent college marketing guru. In a recent article on Ypulse.com, however, he offers help with responding to the “increase” in potential transfer [...]