Insights from the 2009 Research #1: Many non-inquiring prospects are more interested in Christian higher education than we think!
By Thomas E. McWhertor, CCCU Senior Fellow
The CCCU is the beneficiary of some tremendous research that will serve us well as we work to market Christian higher education. This is the first article in a series envisioned to assist CCCU member institutions to dig into this rich data repository to enhance institutional and organization-wide efforts to make the case for Christ-centered higher education to more people in more effective ways. It is hoped that both member institutions which participated in the project and those who chose not to do so will benefit from the findings, though participants do have greater access to the full data, findings, and recommendations for each of the aspects of the research.
Click here for the Executive Summary of the project.
Non-inquiring prospective students
In 1986 the CCCU did some research with Maguire Associates, and one finding was that there were at least 250,000 high school graduates who professed faith in Christ who did not even inquire at any of the institutions that were then members of the CCCU. For years, enrollment has offered schemed ways to reach the “missing quarter-of-a-million,” but we don’t hear that line much anymore. Why? Have we given up on attracting students who don’t have a prior predilection for our institutions?
The 2000 research did not particularly address this question of the enrollment potential of non-inquirers, but several findings implied that there were still an ample number of prospects who had not inquired at CCCU member institutions –even more institutions than 14 years earlier. It seems that since then, many more of our institutions are “searching” in various ways to attempt to identify and communicate with more of this “missing” group, but the 2009 research clearly indicates that there are plenty of prospects who have not even inquired at our institutions. But this new research tells us more about why they have not inquired, giving us some guidelines for better communicating with them to more effectively communicate Christian higher education to these prospects who seem like they have some interest that needs to be piqued. There is a great enrollment opportunity out there if we can find a way to both reach those students and effectively communicate with them past the barriers that have kept them at a distance.
The findings of this new 2009 research with non-inquiring prospects indicate some important things about those prospective students who are not inquiring or applying to our institutions. The Noel-Levitz researchers highlighted the following finding, following a survey of non-inquirers identified from the NRCCUA database:
“The untapped market potential for CCCU schools is large. While 70 percent of these students do not currently plan to attend a Christian college or university more than two-thirds have a reasonable level of interest in a Christian college or university to consider them as viable prospects for CCCU schools. Only one in three prospects has definitely ruled out a Christian college.”
This would indicate that there are numerous prospects out there who are open to considering our member institutions, if only we can effectively communicate with them. Since two-thirds of those surveyed expressed openness to considering CCCU schools and only one-third says they will not even consider a Christian college, there is a “field ripe for harvest” out there if we can communicate effectively with them.
The findings also indicate that even though they do not formally “inquire,” many of these prospective students are already looking at our institutions (two-thirds have visited the Web site of a Christian college) and about the same proportion express interest in specifically Christian characteristics as do inquirers (though they are somewhat less important to these non-inquiring prospects, than to those who do inquire). They are looking at our institutions, lurking out there on our Web sites–but still not inquiring in any identifying fashion. There is great food for thought in this data, so we must consider the implications of these findings.
Non-inquirers have different criteria in their college exploration process.
- They have higher class ranks and their parents have higher educational achievement.
- They have a stronger focus on career preparation and formation of a life direction.
- They appear to have more interest in professional programs than the typical CCCU inquirer.
- The vast majority of these students are planning on a graduate degree after their undergrad years.
Have we accounted for these differences in the way we portray our institutions? Remember the old adage about doing the same thing again and expecting different results. How ought “we” adapt institutional communications to capture the interest of those who are looking differently at their college options, than the typical student who enrolls at our institutions?
Considered and well-executed search efforts are justified by this data.
- More than two-thirds are open to Christian colleges and looking at their Web sites, they are primed to inquire but need a “reason” to do so.
- It is important that search efforts to reach these non-inquirers lead with academic strengths, career and graduate school preparation.
It is important to somehow seek out these non-inquiring students, to effectively communicate to enable them to put Christ-centered higher education institutions into the choice set for their college exploration process. How can they respond, if they have not heard –and how can they hear if we do not communicate the genuine and true characteristics of our institutions which of most importance to them?
The research shows that these prospects express interest in our faith perspective, even if that is not as important to them as it is to others who inquire, but perhaps our inability to communicate other important things is more reason why they do not make that inquiry step. Wherever these non-inquirers are envisioned in our “target audience,” we must make every effort to communicate and demonstrate institutional characteristics that are sina qua non for these students. Old ways of communicating is not sufficient to the day –the research is clear.
New thinking about our institutional Web sites is in order.
- These non-inquirers are already reading CCCU institutional Web sites, it seems obvious that changes are needed increase their interest in inquiring or applying.
- Academics and outcomes must be front-and-center, “softer” factors will not entice them to inquire, yet alone apply.
If two-thirds of these potential inquirers are already looking at CCCU institutional Web sites, it can be assumed that these Web sites are not sufficient to capture their imaginations about how they would fit on CCCU campuses. More thinking is needed to consider how students like this would react to the first and most obvious web pages of your institution. Does the “in-house Christian lingo” turn them away? Is your institution’s academic strength clearly indicated early and often on the Web site? Are career outcomes, graduate school and job placement rates easy to find –and compelling? What other changes would make your Web site more compelling to students with pre-conceptions about Christian colleges to look further into what it might be like to study there?
CCCU institutions must communicate costs clearly to this group, since they expect Christian colleges to be more expensive than they are.
- Most institutions tend not to put price front-and-center, for good reasons, but it does appear from this research that “wrong” assumptions about cost could be limiting inquiries.
- Lower-priced member institutions could benefit most in this area, if academic and career factors are addressed sufficiently –but accurate pricing knowledge will benefit all institutions.
Yes, there is a tendency to avoid putting sticker price too obviously on Web sites and in institutional publications. The general approach has been to place those within carefully crafted sections on scholarships and financial aid that only someone already interested will find. Is that because we wonder if our institutions are really worth the price?
Some of the evidence of this survey demonstrates that these non-inquiring prospects think our CCCU institutions are more expensive than they really are –that they ought not really consider our institutions on the basis of cost alone, so they move right past ours to public institutions but also to other privates. It is surprising how many of these students choose private institutions. We need to be more creative about how we demonstrate at quick glance that our institutions are affordable.
Friends, there is a tremendous amount of information for each of our institutions in this voluminous research. Institutions which participated in the research itself (55 member colleges and universities) have the full report and can access all of the findings –and the data behind it. All member institutions have the executive summary and can use the thoughts from this article and more to follow to guide them to think about the various audiences surveyed and how the findings can shape more effective communications and recruitment efforts in the future. You can contract with Noel-Levitz to assist you in exploring the implications for your institution –or engage other enrollment officers who assisted in the research for the CCCU to consult with you.
However you do it, make sure you tap into the tremendous resource that this research offers, for the sake of your institution and the sake of the students who are missing the opportunity to seriously explore the calling of Christian higher education and all that might do for the coming of the Kingdom.
Senior Fellow Tom McWhertor was vice president for enrollment at Calvin College until 2009. He now serves as director of constituency relations at CRWRC (Christian Reformed World Relief Committee:
www.crwrc.org ). Tom coordinated the steering committee for the CCCU market research projects in both 2000 and 2009. Contact him at
tmcwhertor@crwrc.org.