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Our Solution: Interest in My College (IMC)
With a feature called Interest in My College (IMC), you can find students who've added your organization to their BigFuture college list and engage them at the best time—while they're showing interest. Because these students are qualified, organic leads, they're 10 times more likely to apply. All College Board Access Plans come equipped with IMC at no additional cost.
Four Key Shifts in the Enrollment Market
With solutions for your enrollment strategies
Market Shift #1: Online Search Tools Are Reshaping Student Behavior
Students today rely on the web for most things—and their college search is no different. The market has shifted in a significant way. Before contacting you directly, students use online college search tools like BigFuture® to research and show organic interest in your institution. To increase your chances of enrolling these students, you must engage them while they’re actively raising their hands online.
Understanding today’s market shifts can help enrollment leaders adjust their recruitment approach to meet students' needs and reach their enrollment goals. Learn how your College Board Access Plan can provide solutions to help you respond to an evolving enrollment landscape.
Market Shift #2: If You're Not Early, You're Late
The number of college-going students is projected to decline, a trend often referred to as the "enrollment cliff." As a result, enrollment leaders will need to sow seeds earlier in students’ high school careers. Centering your outreach primarily on juniors and seniors is no longer an effective strategy. We know that communicating with students before their senior year improves your chances for yield. On average, students who choose to connect with colleges are 25% more likely to enroll and 31% more likely to graduate on time from a 4-year college.
Our Solution: Connections™
Every Access Plan includes Connections, a privacy-forward way for colleges to interact with high school students who’ve taken the PSAT/NMSQT®, PSAT™ 10, or SAT® on a school day. Participating students are invited to download a mobile app called BigFuture School, where they can check their scores and review Connections messages from interested colleges. With Connections, you can engage with these test takers early in their college search process in a way that protects their personal information.
A College Board Access Plan offers institutions unparalleled reach by unlocking two powerful recruitment tools: Search and Connections. Between 2022 and 2023, over 6 million unique students participated in College Board Search and Connections, a 7% increase in total students from College Board Search alone. And participation continues to grow each week.
Market Shift #3: Tailored Content Is Key
Today's college-bound students live in the era of algorithms in which personalized user experiences are the norm. Your prospects don't want to receive generic messages that could be found on your college’s website. They expect content that’s tailored to their needs and interests, and your messaging strategy should reflect this reality.
Our Solution: Segment Analysis Service™
Our Segment Analysis Service feature is a data tagging tool that helps you learn more about your prospective students based on where they live and where they go to high school. The Segment Analysis Service Educational Neighborhood and High School cluster tags leverage insights on millions of students and thousands of high schools to provide a more complete picture of your various student segments. With this data, you can send more tailored content to student segments. This allows you to enter new markets and convert more prospects.
See how one private institution used Segment Analysis Service to exceed their enrollment goals.
Market Shift #4: Parents Are Often Just as Involved as Students
Parents or guardians are vital to a student’s college search journey. You should consider them in your recruitment strategy. Parents are often involved when it comes to matters such as application fees, FAFSA® filing, and on-campus events. If a prospective student’s parents aren't included in your outreach plans, you’ll face roadblocks to that student enrolling.
Our Solution: Parent Contacts
With our Parent Contacts feature, you can reach parents who’ve actively opted in to participate in their teen’s college exploration journey. With this information, you can add parent outreach campaigns to your strategy. That way you can connect with parents from the very beginning.
Need help refining your recruitment strategy? Speak to a consultant to discuss the best ways to maximize your plan.
Four Key Shifts in the Enrollment Market
With solutions for your enrollment strategy