Recruiting Intelligence

Universities are getting hit by a tsunami of changes ranging from increased competition among universities as they expand traditional recruiting territories, stronger on-line competition from traditional and new competitive entries, rising tuition and student debt levels as well as a new marketing environment.  I am focusing on the latter change, which is getting less attention given the magnitude of the other factors. 

South Korea, officially known as the Republic of Korea, is one of the most connected countries in the world with high broadband penetration rates and a tech savvy population. The wireless internet is seeing a rapid rise in uptake in South Korea; the number of users of both smartphones and tablets doubled between 2011 and 2012, according to a December 2012 report from the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA).

Prediction 1: Marketing channels and interactions are dramatically shifting to digital channels.

 It's a platitude that our rising high schools students are digital natives and their information gathering behavior is centered on digital activities and channels. College education is by far the biggest investment and purchase decision high school students will have made so far in their lives. Online research, social media interactions and information gathering will be at the center of their research.  The Google Research chart below shows the current resources used by prospective students.  Five of the eight most frequently used resources are digital.

Are you concerned about improving your reach and productivity in social media marketing? You should always be thinking about improving your systems, and this could be one to consider. 

In the spring and summer of 1988, I was sitting in Germany with three U.S. graduate school admissions in hand, two of them to similar prestigious programs in Washington D.C. - Johns Hopkins University (SAIS) and Georgetown University. I didn't get to visit either campus. I had never been to the United States, had no emotional, family and other ties to either university. Where to attend?

Have you ever noticed that different key word searches bring completely different results? This happens throughout the Internet but we noticed it most recently on the Chinese social media site RenRen. This can be a great source of frustration for both students and universities.

University admissions officers are dedicated folks, committed to recruiting, admitting and enrolling the most qualified, diverse and interesting student body, while balancing the institution's financial needs. They work hard, travelling and interacting with hundreds of prospective students domestically and internationally. 

Education USA is the main U.S. tax payer-financed vehicle for the international promotion of U.S. universities around the world. Let's exclude Harvard, Stanford, MIT -- they do not need that marketing support.