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Intelligence
Admissions Decision Factors and .edu Sites

Intelligence

Admissions Decision Factors and .edu Sites

Dec 12, 2013By mStoner Staff

There are several factors that can make or break a prospective student’s decision to enroll at a college, university, or professional school. Most often, these fundamental decision factors include whether or not a specific program is offered, location, cost, and rankings. Fundamental decision factors are used to create a short list of viable options. Whether the student is shopping for an undergraduate or graduate degree, basic criteria for selection will be considered before the audience begins to pay attention to what makes your college, university, or school different from other viable options.

Programs
A specific program can be a qualifying decision for whether or not a student applies to a college, university, or school. Make sure a student can quickly find an index of programs – and that your program, degree, and minor pages have a solid content strategy behind them – to help prospectives decide if your institution is a viable fit.

Location
Location can be a non-starter for students; some students shop only in a specific geographic reason. An example is a student interested in schools only in New York City, or a student only considering colleges and universities within driving distance of home. Presenting a location should include a basic map and driving directions, but it can also include a virtual tour or an explanation of what the area around the college has to offer. For any institution located near a major metropolis, an explanation of access to and opportunities within the city can help present the institution as a viable alternative to centrally located urban competitors.

Cost
Cost is a major decision for nearly every student (and for some parents). Many colleges and universities still have overly complex cost and tuition and financial aid sections. Cost and tuition and financial aid pages are an opportunity to deliver information quickly, clearly, and to facilitate next steps that might influence decisions to enroll.

Rankings
Rankings (particularly the rankings from US News & World Report) can play a primary role in decision making for high ability students and for students selecting advanced degrees or programs. College and universities must embrace this data and list it on the main site in easy-to-find places. By doing this, you have a chance of controlling the presentation of the data – and may have options to present other favorable data on the same page as the rankings.

Reviewing and Editing the Pages that Help You Make the Short List
Pages with information that influence decision factors are also great candidates for frequent content audits (reviewing once per semester for accuracy and updates) or enhancements (introducing new content or features that might better inform prospectives).

If You’re Not an Authoritative Source of Information, Become One
Prospectives may default to authoritative sources like US News & World Report – or less controllable sources like Wikipedia – because they’ve come to expect third parties will provide a less biased version of data related to ranking and cost than individual college and university sites. But they may very well may be starting with the main institutional site as the first place to investigate facts. It’s up to the teams working on .edu sites to elevate the quality of the content so that the main college or university site is seen as the first destination for authoritative data.