NEWSROOM
College Search Begins at Earlier Stage
TeensTALK® Research Reveals New Trend
August 10, 2007
Three out of four high school sophomores have already gone looking for a college match.
According to a TeensTALK® (Trends, Attitudes, Lifestyles and Knowledge) research study conducted by Stamats, a higher-education marketing firm at www.stamats.com, 74% of all high school sophomores have begun their college search via the Web.
“They aren’t waiting around to be asked by a college if they are interested,” said Steve Kappler, Stamats executive director of consulting. “Instead, they are seeking out their date-with-destiny by initiating their own stealth Web search to find a perfect match.”
Kappler suggests that colleges and universities feature a dynamic Web site that can be easily found with pumped-up search engine optimization. He also offers this advice: Start early if your college or university wants the best students a few years down the road. Target your marketing efforts to sophomores as heavily as upper classmen.
Traditionally, the college search has been focused on, by both marketers and students, the latter years of high school. According to the Stamats’ study, 79% of juniors and 92% of seniors have conducted college searches, but a surprising number of sophomores are closing in. “Teenagers think of college as a long-term relationship,” said Kappler. “They start early looking for a good fit.”
Parental Approval
Parents continually argue with their teenagers about curfews and who they hang out with, but they are still the biggest influencers when it comes to helping high schoolers with a college decision. According to the Stamats study, 76% of teenagers rated parents as the major influencer when it comes to college decision making, a distant second was guidance counselors.
“They still seek parental approval for who they spend the next four years with,” said Kappler. “Colleges and universities should never underestimate the influence of parents regarding the college selection process. The research backs this.”
The Magic Fades
While the Stamats research finds that a high percentage of sophomores dreamily plan to travel more than four hours away for college, the reality is that by senior year only 11% of seniors actually applied to colleges that were more than four hours from home. “Absence can make the heart grow fonder for a more familiar experience, even when it comes to a college selection,” said Kappler.
State schools have the luxury of targeting upper classmen in their recruitment efforts. But, according to Stamats research, private institutions must start earlier – at the sophomore level – in recruiting students from a further distance.
The Big Date
Many new trends have emerged from social networks such as Facebook and MySpace. You can be “asked out” to the high school scene via your social network, but you can also filter a great deal of “invitations to the big college dance” via the new media options available – and heavily used – by high schoolers.
Kappler advises colleges and universities that social networks are here to stay, and higher-education institutions must learn how to best communicate via this new trend. According to the Stamats study, only 25% of seniors found out about colleges via social networking, but 30% of sophomores used this vehicle to gain college information. Kappler indicates that the jury is still out on the effectiveness of social networking within the college search, but the possibility of a growing trend exists.
To evaluate your understanding of teen marketing, visit www.stamats.com/scorecards and take the TeensTALK test.