Noel-Levitz has some great information to help you tweak your site to make it more parent-friendly. While the firm prepares another in its series of E‑Expectations reports, Stephanie Geyer, vice president of e‑communications and web strategy at Noel-Levitz, shared a presentation on the results of a survey of parents’ views of college websites and student recruitment in general. [Download your own copy here.]
The 30-page PDF is filled with good insights, of which perhaps the most important is this list of web content priorities for parents (rated on a 5‑point scale, with 5 being “extremely valuable”):
Academic programs or majors:4.85
Scholarships: 4.78
Admissions requirements: 4.78
Tuition and fees: 4.77
Campus safety: 4.76
Financial aid: 4.64
Information for parents of prospective students: 4.62
Accreditation: 4.61
Information for accepted students: 4.59
Visiting campus: 4.56
Payment plan options: 4.49
Housing and residence life: 4.48
Faculty and teaching: 4.44
Graduation rates: 4.43
Student life and activities: 4.40
Job placement rates: 4.27
Geyer extracts some recommendations about college websites from the comments that Noel-Levitz received. Among my favorites:
“I have had some trouble locating information such as tuition costs, financial aid/scholarship availability, and payment plans on several college websites. It would be great if this information was always included under a “parent section” tab.”
and
“I appreciate it when a web site clearly states what majors a student can receive degrees in and what the student to faculty ratio is as well as what % of students receive financial aid.”
Noel-Levitz reports that 16% of the parents responding to the survey said that their son or daughter had been invited to join a college-sponsored social network and 11% actually viewed institution-sponsored social networking sites. Feedback to this idea ranged from positive (“I think if the info comes from the school with valuable information and not as just marketing then it is a good idea.”) to negative (“My concerns are that students would make choices based on socialization, not academic instruction.”).
And how do they want to be contacted? Email wins, with 85% of parents saying they prefer it; 76% like snail mail/brochures; and 49% suggest phone calls.
See also: Curb Appeal: Designing Websites for Prospective Students
Michael Stoner Co-Founder and Co-Owner Was I born a skeptic or did I become one as I watched the hypestorm gather during the dotcom years, recede, and congeal once more as we come to terms with our online, social, mobile world? Whatever. I'm not much interested in cutting edge but what actually works for real people in the real world. Does that make me a bad person?