V
WHAT MOTIVATES
PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS?
EXAMINING THE DECISIONTO-ENROLL PROCESS
A Collaboration between Datamark and
Kaplan University
RESEARCH OBJECTIVE AND METHODOLOGY
 Gain insight into the decision-making process
 2 phases of the decision process: Initial idea-to-research and
research-to-enrollment
 Online Panel distributed across:
 Prospects, applicants, enrollees
 Undergrad, graduate programs
 Online and ground schools
KEY QUESTIONS ADDRESSED
 Why do prospective students seek higher education?
 How much time do prospective students spend gathering
information, and how do they go about it?
 How do prospective students narrow their choices?
 What influences a prospective student’s decision to apply to a
particular school?
 What factors carry the most weight in a prospective student’s
decision to enroll?
KEY FINDINGS
Initial Interest and Motivations

Prospective students are seeking more education to achieve a set goal.
Research

The majority of prospective students start the research process within one
to two months of deciding to further their education.

The primary source of information are school websites and internet
searches.
Selection

The most important factors in narrowing down their school consideration
list are the program of interest is offered and the cost of the program.
Application

About one-third of prospective students did not apply due to financial
reasons.

Of those who did not apply, 62% still intended to further their education.
Enrollment

The three most important factors when deciding which school to enroll in
are accreditation, amount of financial aid provided and program cost.
TOP LIFE/CAREER SITUATIONAL MOTIVATORS
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE STUDENTS TO DECIDE
ABOUT GOING BACK TO SCHOOL?
WHERE DO STUDENTS GO TO RESEARCH
SCHOOLS?
HOW MUCH TIME PASSES BETWEEN THE
RESEARCH & APPLICATION PHASES?
HOW DO THE PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS NARROW
DOWN THEIR SCHOOL CHOICES?
NUMBER OF SCHOOLS NARROWED TO
CONSIDERATION
REASONS FOR NOT APPLYING
DECIDING TO APPLY
DECIDING TO ENROLL
LEARNING APPLIED
 Prospect marketing
 Remarketing
 Dialog
 Admissions
CONCLUSION:
 Focus on the prospective student’s end goal
 Focus on the key consideration variables
 Provide the right information at the right time
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR A SCHOOL?
 Why is it important to understand decision to enroll?
 Decision to enroll does not start at the generation of
the inquiry
 Decision to enroll has multiple touch points
 Segmentation
 Student experience
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND DECISION
TO ENROLL?
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND DECISION
TO ENROLL?
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND DECISION
TO ENROLL?
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND DECISION
TO ENROLL?
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND DECISION
TO ENROLL?
Decision to enroll different for students with more risk factors
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND DECISION
TO ENROLL?
… decision to enroll less obvious for students who are
traditionally not marketed to
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND DECISION
TO ENROLL?
… for profit tuition prices likely not sustainable at current levels
IDENTIFY DECISION TO ENROLL EARLY IN FUNNEL
IDENTIFY DECISION TO ENROLL EARLY IN
FUNNELL … CREATES VIRTUOUS CIRCLE
Identify Decision
to Enroll Early
Higher market
share and growth
Lower Acquisition
cost (pull vs.
push)
Higher quality
alumni advocates
Higher Quality
Inquiries
Lower Admissions
cost, re-investment
in academic quality
Improved LTR,
graduation rates, job
placements
HOWEVER, IDENTIFYING EARLY NOT AS EASY …
…. Current screening technologies have high value but do not answer the
fundamental question … “WHY”
Inquiry
Score
Compliance
Fraud
Device IP
Inquiry
Authenticity
Phone
Verification
Inquiry
Age
Inquiry
Contactability
Inquiry
Velocity
And risk a series of costly binary decisions around “good” or “bad”
ESPECIALLY TAKING MULTIPLE TOUCHPOINTS
HOW TO INCORPORATE RESEARCH
 Understand the student
 Understand (and measure) the
journey
 Find white space and differentiate
 Segment the enrollment process
 Post enrollment should pull pre
enrollment
UNDERSTAND THE STUDENT
FA Advisor
• Attitude towards
debt
First Term
• Academic concerns
/ preferences
• Personal challenges
• Revisions to
motivations /
dedication
Academic Advisor
• Academic concerns
• Personal challenges
• Revisions to
motivations /
dedication
• Program challenges
Professors
• Personal challenges
• Instructor concerns /
tickets (eg logging
in, but not posting)
• Poor quality posts
• GPA
• Attendance
• Participation
Admission advisor
• Motivations/
dedication
• Past schooling
(credits, GPA)
• Best contact
medium/time/day
• Computer access
• Standardized test
scores
• Time commitment
360° student profile
IT Support
• IT development
needs
• Hardware specs /
literacy
MEASURE THE JOURNEY
Experience
FIND WHITESPACE AND DIFFERENTIATE
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Other
Outcomes
Academic
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For working parents
Most personalized experience
Best customer service
Most unique and different
Best student community
experience
Best students
Most practical, real world
education
Most support to make you
successful as a student
Most degree choice/breadth
Most challenging
Best professors/faculty
Hardest, most rigorous
academic
program
Most difficult to be accepted
into
Most/best career placement
Most prestigious
Most successful alumni
Most respected by employers
Best/most memorable
ads/marketing
Most affordable
For women
School
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ADJUST ENROLLMENT PROCESS AND SUPPORT
SERVICES STRUCTURE
Diagnostic recap
Decision to enroll differs across student
populations
Online universities viewed largely as
same by students
Needs and attitudes differ across student
"life stage”
Key recommendations
Incorporate use of segment profiles by
degree and by selected program in
marketing efforts, inquiry scoring, and in
enrollment reengineering
Test and prioritize differentiated
positioning, leverage big data
Decision to enroll is a life changing
decision
Dynamic messaging across all touch points
over the life stage of the student. Segmented
contact strategy
Price and out of pocket are key drivers to
enroll
Don’t underestimate the value of support
services
Current price levels at many for-profits are
not sustainable. Re-engineer the business
model
MAKE POST ENROLLMENT PULL PRE ENROLLMENT
PRE ENROLLMENT
MARKETING
Profiling
Value Based
Pricing
ADMISSIONS
Advisor
Matching
Support
Services
POST ENROLLMENT
ASSESSMENT
SUCCESS
PATHING
Risk
Assessment
Modularized
Education
Skill Based
Diagnostics
Program
Evaluation
GRADUATION
Placement
Thank you.