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Research Findings & Recommendations


By: Sadie Stuart, Jared Wetherbee, Summer McCorkle, Carmen McAuliffe, Ben Winslow

201-650-0628 | Elon University


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Table of Contents

Executive Summary ................................................................ 3

Background ............................................................................ 5

Situational Analysis ................................................................ 7

Research Objective ................................................................ 8

Research Methodology .......................................................... 9

Findings ................................................................................ 12

Pertinent Info ....................................................................... 21

Research Limitations ........................................................... 22

Recommendations ............................................................... 23

Appendices

Survey ................................................................................... 26

Focus Group ......................................................................... 29

Expert Interviews ................................................................. 33

Experiment ........................................................................... 36

Secondary Research ............................................................. 37

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Executive Summary
Over the last four months, we have conducted primary and secondary research in
order to create a strategic communications plan for the NAICU. Through a survey,
focus group, experiments, and expert interviews, we have gained a deeper
understanding of our target audience and their wants and needs.

Many parents rely on college counselors during the college application and
decision process. However, some were frustrated with the services their student’s
high schools offered. We believe having specialized NAICU college counselors could
provide families with information about private education that they may not have
had access to otherwise and may lead to higher enrollment in private higher
education. Similarly, we suggest the NAICU creates an Instagram account to
highlight their beautiful member schools. In both of our primary and secondary
research we found that perspective college students often use social media as part
of their research before choosing a school. Campus representatives could also be a
great method of spreading the NAICU’s message. Campus reps would be
responsible for creating content highlighting their particular school for Instagram.
This program would easily build an incredible Instagram for the NAICU as well as
building awareness on college campuses and through social media followers. There
is also great potential for high school senior reps. These can be current high school
seniors interested in a private higher education. Through training, they could be
taught how to answer their classmates questions about private education as well as
drumming up interest.

We also recommend creating an NAICU promotional video. By highlighting


different member campuses, students (also a great way to utilize campus reps), and
professors the viewer will gain a better understanding of private education as a
whole and what sort of schools are a part of the NAICU.

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Executive Summary
Along with the recommendations above, we also believe a student blog page about
attending private higher education would be beneficial. These blog posts would
feature a student at a member school of the NAICU, why they chose their school,
how they feel about their decision, and how they are making the most of their
academic and social opportunities.

In both our primary and secondary research we found that the financial obligation
of a private higher education scares many families away. We believe that the NAICU
should have a scholarship program. Highschool seniors would apply to the
scholarship with a resume as well as an essay. The essay should focus on why they
would like a private higher education and why it is currently unavailable to them.
This would be a great tactic to not only draw positive attention to the NAICU but to
also make a huge difference in some students' lives.

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Background
The NAICU, or the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, is
a national company focused on representing private, non-profit higher education,
and was founded in 1976.  Presidents of these accredited colleges and universities
are members of the NAICU, and is one of the six major presidential higher
education associations. The mission statement of the NAICU is:

NAICU's relationships, expertise, and credibility allow it to be an effective messenger


for the diverse voices of its membership.

We are doing research for the NAICU in order to increase awareness of its existence
as well as the positive impact that this organization has had on private, non-profit
higher education across the country.  The NAICU as a whole has been a major
partner with these universities with regards to making private higher education
more accessible to everyone, as well as allowing those who may not have seen
private education as an available option to see the flexibility that private colleges
and universities have. 

Also, while the mission statement for the NAICU is available on their website is
available, we believe that the clarity of this message could be enhanced.  This
statement is one that should be relatively understood with regards to what the
NAICU should do. A clear mission statement says the purpose of a brand or
association, while also explaining a deeper meaning and drive to complete this
purpose.  Adding this second layer to the mission statement will create a more
human aspect to the NAICU that we believe is crucial for adding to its impact and
awareness across all demographics.

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Background: continued
Finally, the goal of our research is to widen the path for future engagement with the
NAICU.  In finance, a common theme is to create “multiple streams of revenue” in
order to create stability.  This is the concept that we wish to apply to the availability
aspect of the NAICU. Adding representatives and perspectives from all facets of the
college process will diversify the association, and create their multiple streams of
awareness to all groups and demographics so that their message and mission
reaches more people than ever before.  This includes current college students,
aspiring college students, and parents of current and aspiring college students.
Growing awareness amongst these groups will lead to earlier contact with current
high school students so that private higher education is not introduced so late in the
process that they can not fully understand and immerse themselves in all that a
private college or university can offer.

In order to accomplish these goals, we will be using multiple forms of primary


research to create the most thorough results possible.  We will be conducting a
survey of current college students, a focus group with current college students, as
well as an experiment and expert interview with moms of soon to be college
students, in either 11th or 12th grade.  These tools will be crucial in our full
understanding of how the NAICU as an association can better themselves and make
their impact known to those that drive the colleges and universities that are
members of their organization.

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Situation Analysis SWOT

Strengths: Weaknesses:
- Transparency of the - Lack of organization history
organization - Lack of clarity on what the
- Understands current updates organization actually does to
and information within the field achieve their goals
- Current target audience - Lack of awareness/presence of
receives messages well organization

Opportunities:-
To expand messaging to larger Threats:-
target demographic 2025 class size drop
- Raise awareness among - Student debt crisis
prospective students and parents - Smaller private universities are
- Find unique way to market and not doing well
advertise schools with larger
available budgets

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Research Objectives
Phoenix branding had specific goals in mind before conducting our primary and
secondary research. We possessed certain questions about how students and parents
interact with the college decision process serving as our information needs. It was
imperative for us to understand what kind of a role parents played in their children’s
journey and how large their role in the ultimate choice of their child’s college. We felt we
needed to get a peek into how the guardians of prospective students controlled or did
not control the decision of their kid’s college to understand how to best market to these
audiences in the situation.

Our group wanted to gain insight into the tactics used to narrow down college options,
how do people find their alma maters? Phoenix Branding wanted to find out and looked
at secondary research, conducted expert interviews, experiments, a focus group, and
collected  a survey to see how people treat their college decision process and what
behaviors they engaged in. We felt it was imperative to find what people actually did
before making their choice and how they prepared for their choice such as visitation,
councillor support, online research, advertisement attention, and other actions that
determined their college choice.

It was also key for us to see young people’s and parents opinions of private colleges and
public universities. Our client being NAICU and fighting for the desires of private
institutions, it was important for us to understand the recent college prospect’s initial and
final interpretations on the differences, advantages and disadvantages of private and
public organizations. Doing this allows us to appropriately recommend our client to
highlight private school’s strengths and strategize its weaknesses best to its target
audience.

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Research Methodology
Survey
Our survey was sent via email, social media, and other forms of online
communication to a variety of Elon University students. While the demographic
parameter of all respondents was restrained to only Elon students, these students
come from all over the country making their answers valuable to our research. 

We began the online survey with four nominal demographic questions so that we
may gain perspective on who and where the respondents are. The survey then
follows with questions that were formed for validity and reliability. It begins with
interval questions that include styles like the likert scale, such as number five, and
the semantic differential scale, such as questions four and six. Interval questions
allows for respondents to specifically measure their level of agreement with the
stated prompt which helps us as researchers define the consumers psychographics.
Following this, the survey delves into ratio style questions that allow respondents to
provide relative value and definitive answers in relation to context. This is shown in
question number ten which asks the survey participants to distribute ten points
amongst the different qualities of colleges based on importance. Our survey
questions were constructed strategically to gain insight on what respondents value
in a college education, what their perceptions on private versus public higher
education is, and to gauge their general feelings about college education. Within
our survey we made it imperative to use a wide variety of questions so that we may
get our respondents to think about similar questions with different perspectives.

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Research Methodology
Focus Group
Our focus group was conducted at 5:30 pm on December 4th. The group was made
up of 11 participants of whom are all Elon University students. There were 8 females
and 2 males. To guide our discussion we used a discussion guide that served as a
roadmap for our focus group. We began the focus group with a small introduction
ensuring that we create a safe, open, and welcoming space for the respondents.
Following the introduction we handed out a small questionnaire so that we could
have the specific demographics of our participants. Then we had our participants
introduce themselves, state their favorite class they are currently enrolled in, and
their favorite part of college as a small icebreaker to further create the best
environment possible. Our focus group then flowed smoothly into two activities. The
first activity had participants draw their perfect college. This exercise was both an
idealization and psychodrawing activity. The unique exercise let the participants
view their values in college from a different perspective. When the students
discussed their drawings it helped us as researchers to further understand the
individual's mindset. The second activity looked at what the students wished they
knew about schools and if they believe higher education establishments are
transparent enough. Based on secondary research we have found that as a college
applicant there are opportunities to ask college admissions representatives
questions about their school, but not in a complete judgement free space. This
hypothetical exercise will allow us to identify exactly what college students wish
they had known, what they truly care about, and their honest opinions on school.

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Research Methodology
Expert Interviews
Our team held five different expert interviews individually over the week of
November 24, 2019. The expert interviewees were all mothers of current or soon to
be a college student. By conducting expert interviews, we hope to gain further
insight into the minds of mothers of soon to be college students. The college
decision process is not just a daunting and scary process for students, but also their
parents. These interviewees were asked specific questions about the important
qualities that a college must or must not have for their child as well as questions
that assessed their personal opinions on the college process. Based on our findings
on parental concerns during the college process, we will be able to better make
recommendations for the NAICU regarding ways to support parents during the
college decision process. If the NAICU is able to properly supporting parents, they
may be more likely to want to send their child to a private university.

Experiment
In order to depthen our research perspective, our team conducted five individual
experiments over the week of November 24, 2019. Our experiment participants were
mothers of current college students and soon to be college students. We initiated
our experiment by showing the participants several college promotion videos from
different types of schools, including private, public, and community colleges. After
every individual video we asked our participants their general feelings on the video
such as what compelled them and what distracted them. The answers from the
questions asked about the individual videos gave us insight on what a well done
promotion video consists of and what characteristics deter parents of students from
that college. At the end of all video showings, of which there were five, we asked our
participants four questions about the general characteristics and feelings of college
promotional videos. This helped us identify common themes, what values were
prominent in the video that should stay, what values were not addressed, and the
overall feeling towards the question; do college promotional videos work?
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Findings: Secondary
Through secondary research, Phoenix Branding has gained new understanding of
the NAICU as a whole including the target audiences, the culture of the higher
education field, the competition for the NAICU,  and how they can best reach their
publics including use of social media platforms. We have answered many of our
questions surrounding how the NAICU opporates, their values, and potential target
audiences. Through secondary research, we were able to analyze and break down
the college decision process and higher education as a whole. Below are some of
the most pertinent facts we gathered. All of our secondary research at the end of
the document in the appendix.

40% of students turn down their first choice schools due to financials.
Average tuition for a private school in the 2018-2019 school year was $35,676
compared to  in-state public universities and colleges with an average tuition of
$9,716 while out-of-state averaged at $21,629.
Private schools offer more scholarships, sometimes leading to privately educated
students having less debt than publicly educated students.
88% of parents consider the availability of financial aid to be a very important
factor when deciding on a school, compared to only 74% of parents who think
student graduation rates are very important.
71% of parents say that paying for higher education is the second largest
investment in their familial financial life while 30% say it is their largest financial
obligation.
Students use social media of a school to help aid their decision during the
college process.
Sports can have a major effect on enrollment rates. (see charts below)

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Target Profile

Meet Lisa
TARGET AUDIENCE PROFILE

CREATED BY
PHOENIX BRANDING
This profile was created to help the NAICU become more aware of their
target audience and to gain a deeper understanding of them. Lisa was
created to demonstrate one of their most important target audiences,
middle class mothers.

DEMOGRAPHICS GEOGRAPHY
Lisa lives in Maplewood, New Jersey. Her husband commutes to
Age: 48
New York City by train for work. With a population of over
Gender: Female
24,000 people, she does not know everyone but has developed a
Household Income: $78,000
close community in her neighborhood. Most of her neighbors also
Life: Married with two children have children around the same age of hers and they have grown
One 8th grader and one 11th grader up together. They have been carpooling to school and soccer
Race: Caucasian practice together for years. There is also an elderly couple who
Religion: Christian lives on her street. Her children take turns mowing their lawn for
Social Class: White collar, college educated them. While Lisa does not like the chilly winters. she did not see
moving to a warmer climate to be an option as her extended
PSYCHOGRAPHICS family lives in the Northeast.

Lisa is socially liberal but fiscally conservative. She tries to be


open minded but often finds herself stuck in her ways. After BENEFITS
graduating from a small public university, Lisa married her
college sweetheart. She believes that her children are her In regards to higher education, Lisa's ultimate goal is for her
utmost priority. She stopped working once she had children children to be happy and successful. In her community, going to
to raise them. She would love to travel more but her college is not optional, but expected. She would never admit it,
commitment to her children often gets in the way of this. She but she cares about the "brand name" of schools. She wants to
wants her children to have a better life than she does and to proudly display a bumper sticker on the back of her Honda
be successful. She will do whatever is needed to help them Odyssey. College shirt day is also an event for high school seniors
get there. and she wants her child to be proud and excited to show off
where they are going to be attending college. However, with two
BEHAVIOR children she is worried about the finances associated with paying
for two college educations. She feels as though all of the tutoring,
After working in an office for a few years, she got pregnant soccer practice, dance lessons, and extra hours spent helping her
and decided to stay home with the children. As her children children with their homework should pay off in the form of a at
have gotten older she has had more freetime on her hands. least somewhat prestigious university. She would rather her
Once both of the children are at college, she plans to go children attend a private university but her fiscally conservative
back to work as a receptionist. Currently, she spends most of husband and sports obsessed children are leaning towards public
her day keeping the home in order and driving her kids universities. Lisa and her husband both attended to same small
around. However, she still values her appearance and treats public university. He loved his experience but she was left wanting
herself to a manicure every other week and new blonde more and is looking for that for her children.
highlights every other month.

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Target Profile

Meet Lisa
TARGET AUDIENCE PROFILE

CREATED BY PHOENIX BRANDING


This profile was created to help the NAICU become more
aware of their target audience and to gain a deeper
understanding of their demographics & psychographics.

BRAND LOYALTY & PRODUCT USAGE


Lisa is responsible for all of the household shopping. She shops for food, cleaning supplies, clothing for her family and
herself. She loves to wear brand names but only purchases them when there is a sale or a promotion and she definitely
considers herself a Maxxinista in secret. Her friends sell Mary Kay makeup and she likes to support them and sometimes
wonders if she should start selling it too. Below are her favorite brands and stores.

MOOD BOARD
Not relating to brands, these images further explain Lisa looks like and things she enjoys..

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Target Profile: Contiued

Meet Lisa
TARGET AUDIENCE PROFILE

CREATED BY PHOENIX BRANDING


This profile was created to help the NAICU become more
aware of their target audience and to gain a deeper
understanding of their demographics & psychographics.

HYPOTHESIS

Lisa knows more about her kids than anyone else. She has high hopes for them and has a

large influence over their lives. While her kids might not admit it, they really value her
opinion. This makes her an extremely influential person in the college decision process.

Reaching Lisa can be key in exposing a larger group to the idea of private higher education.

Her and her fellow mom friends chat constantly and by exposing just one of them to the

idea, they could potentially expand it to their entire friend group. Lisa is an avid Facebook

fan and has a large network of friends on the site. She has also just began using Instagram

after one of her children created an account for her. A great way to expose Lisa to a new

idea is through Facebook. If done the right way, she might even share a post and further

spread the message of private higher education. Her Facebook friends include high school

and college friends who also have children around the same age as hers. The NAICU does

not need to reach every mother in the world, by targeting Lisa's, they will spread the
message within a community for you.

FUN FACTS ABOUT LISA

She is currently on her second Honda Odyssey since having kids

Once her kids are in college and she gets rid of the minivan, she will secretly miss it

She loves watching the Real Housewives of New Jersey

Sometimes when she is home alone during the day, she likes to have a few glasses of wine

She is starting to need reading glasses but will continue to deny it

She smoked cigarettes in college but would never tell her children

She was a Kappa Kappa Gamma in college

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Findings: Survey
As part of our primary research, we created a survey to better understand what
current college students think about higher education. Below are our key
findings.58.1% of parents completed post college degrees.
61.3% of Elon students parents attended a public university.
The most people (16.1%) applied to 7 schools. 
96.8% of Elon students also applied to public schools. 
35% of parents influenced their children's college decision.
61% of Elon students are having the majority of their education paid for by their
parents.
80.6% of students think community is the most important aspect when
choosing a school.

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Findings: Focus Group
Activity 1:
For this activity, we asked participants to draw their perfect school. How many students
go there? Is it by a city, in a town, or rural? What amenities do they have on campus?
Throughout this exercise, participants answers varied greatly. When it came to school
size, answers were between 5,000 and 15,0000. We believe this number may be affected
by the fact that all participants currently attend a mid-sized university. A common
theme was also the location and natural features of the school like beaches, mountains,
lakes, or cities. Food was another common theme among participants. We believe this
focus on food is due to the lack of options on Elon Universities campus where our focus
group took place. Below are some of the drawings for the group.

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Findings: Focus Group
Activity 2:
For activity two, we asked participants to pretend the college admissions process was
reversed and perspective students were able to ask universities questions prior to
making the decision of which school to attend. Throughout the exercise, common
themes included student wellbeing, retention rates, and services offered by the
university. Below are some quotes from participants.

"What would they do if we were struggling, how would they offer us assistance? I would
want to know further than like academic help, what services do they have for mental
health?

"I would want to know what they want from their students. What are their expectations,
and what a student needs to do to excel at that school. Is the school just trying to push
students through to graduation or are they really invested in you as a person and your
individual goals."

"What connections do you have after graduation? Is there a strung alum


community?"

"I would want to know what they want from their students. What are their expectations,
and what a student needs to do to excel at that school. Is the school just trying to push
students through to graduation or are they really invested in you as a person and your
individual goals."

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Findings: Experiment
Another primary research tactic we used was an experiment of sorts. Mothers of
perspective college students or college students were shown five different college
promotional videos. After each video, they responded to how it made them feel and
their likes and dislikes. At the conclusion of all five videos, they were asked to reflect and
to identify their favorites and least favorites. Using a wide range of types of school from
community colleges to "name brand" state schools, we hoped to understand what about
the video they liked, instead of what they liked about the school itself. We included
videos from Lyon College, UCLA, Stockport College, Harcum College, and Coahoma
Community College. Included in the appendix are links to each of the videos used.
Below are our findings.

Stockport College was a favorite for 2 subjects but the least favorite of 1.
Student voices in the videos are essential.
There is no cookie cutter mold for a perfect video, Stockport's video was very different
from the others and participants liked that.
Videos that highlighted community and growth were the most well received.
Too much professor and faculty voices did not help the mothers image their children
at the school.
Facts are important, but should not be the basis of the video.

Below is a word cloud based on the repetition of words throughout the experiment.

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Findings: Expert Interviews
We conducted expert interviews with mothers with soon to be college students or current
college students. The goal of these interviews was to better understand how mother feel
during the college decision process and how they view it as a whole. By better
understanding them, we can make better recommendations on how to connect with
them and support them. During the interviews, there were many common themes
mentioned. One of the most recurring answers was that they heavily rely on their children's
college counselors as well as college representatives that visited their child's high school.
However, one mother was worried about the amount of students her child's college
counselor worked with and felt like her family was not receiving the time and dedication
they needed. There was also discussion of privately hired college counselors from outside of
the school district. While these were extremely beneficial for some parents, others could
not afford them. When asked who their child relies on during this process, they said a
combination of older friends and siblings along with the internet. Many mothers said that
their child did a large amount of research on schools by themselves using the internet as
well as social media. Another recurring theme was not knowing where to start with the
college process. One mother said, "For me, the hardest part was figuring out where to start.
There are those books filled with 100s of “perfect” schools, but actually narrowing them
down to schools that fit my child was very difficult.

When asked if they wished they had more say in the college process, all of the mothers
answered yes. In reality, they are aware that this is not a decision they can make for their
child. However, parents often feel like they know best for their child and this continues into
the college process. One participant said, "I would love to be able to pick a school for my
child but I know that is not how this works. In the end, I just want my children to be happy,
safe, and positive members of society.” Even though they wish they had more control, they
seemed to realize that this was their child's choice and they were just there to guide them.

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& PHOENIX
BRANDING

Pertinent Information
Through our extensive primary and secondary research we highlighted certain particular
points of emphasis throughout our findings. Many of these points related to each other and
helped us connect our theoretical predictions into evidence based claims through our
research. These findings served as our basis for creating recommendations to NAICU.

One of the biggest information needs going into the research for this project was to find
out how involved most college students’ parents were in their children’s college decision
process. Through our survey responses and secondary research we found confidence in
that mothers will largely be involved in the decision of where their child goes and more
often than not it is understood that the parents will be paying for at least some of their
child’s education.

Given how important a guardian can be to the decision of a child, we put a lot of emphasis
in the views and wants of the parents. We deduced through our secondary research, expert
mom experiment, and expert interviews that college promos work and are underutilised
by colleges. Many of the moms were impressed by these videos and many students agree
that college promo videos work. For some reason they are being undervalued and not used
smartly enough by any sect of colleges. It is also important for us to equally highlight the
different values of the schools not just focus on one area as we learned from expert
interviews.

More research on moms concludes that mom friend groups can be key in the production
of new ideas to these mom friend groups to eventually influence their children and their
child’s college decision. Through our research we found that infiltrating one mom per
friend group is only essential because our findings show that moms connect with each
other and share about the college decision process how it relates to each other kids and
friend’s kids differently.

It was also clear through survey findings and focus groups that people, specifically students,
perceived private colleges as more expensive. Students also tend to use their resources
around them and gather information from those with relations to them such as their
guidance counsellors, parents, friends, and mutual friends alike according to secondary
research. We believe NAICU should defend these weaknesses and embrace these strengths
amongst their target audience playing a key role in directing new traffic to their
organization members.
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Research Limitations
During our research process our team faced a few limitations. Our survey and for our focus
group presented the same limitations. One of these limitations is that our sample size
turned out to be smaller than what we had aimed for. Having a smaller sample size
restricted our data findings because it meant that we had to generalize our responses to a
larger body of people than anticipated. Another limitation from our survey and focus group
is the lack of gender diversity that was present in both. In our focus group of ten students,
seven were female and three were male. While this ratio is a close representation to the
ratio of female and male students at Elon University, which is 60% female and 40% male,
this lead to our data having an inaccurate assessment of how gender impacts our findings.
Finally, our most detering limitation is that we only had access to Elon University students.
This is because students needed an Elon email address to complete the online survey and
because our focus group was conducted at Elon University.

Similar to the alignment of limitations for our survey and focus group, our team had the
same limitations for our expert interviews and experiments. This limitation was that we
were only able to interview and conduct our experiment with mothers who have children
in private universities. This presents a large margin for bias in our findings which impacts
our ability to recommend ways to expand the consumer demographic for the NAICU.
Furthermore, only having access to mothers limits our perspective on what fathers or other
guardians of students may believe. With a lack of knowledge beyond a mother’s
perspective on private higher education, our data fails to represent the beliefs and values of
fathers or other parent figures in a student’s life.

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BRANDING

Recomendations
Hire Campus Representative:
We recommend hiring both high school senior reps and college student reps to promote
the NAICU. This will help students and parents understand who the NAICU is and what the
association does. By having reps on campus, it will give allow the NAICU receive more
attention and interest with students, parents, and faculty.

Create an Instagram Account:


Social media is a major aspect of the lives of students. Based on findings in the expert
interviews and in secondary research, social media (Instagram) was one platform that
students look at when deciding on a university. By having an NAICU Instagram account, it
will allow students and parents to see different schools, sport activities, student
experiences, and more. An example of a well laid out and organized Instagram account is
Elon University:

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& PHOENIX
BRANDING

Recomendations
Create Promotional Video:
Based on experiment research, promotional videos are a great way to showcase each
university and the experiences each bring for students. The NAICU would benefit from
creating promotional videos to enhance who the association is, what the NAICU does, and
how students and parents can benefit from the association.

Target the “Lisa” of the Friend Group:


Based on secondary research, we recommend the NAICU to reach out to mothers. By
doing this, it allows mothers to spread the message within the community about what the
NAICU provides for students and parents. Targeting the “Lisa” of the friend group will
promote the association by having mothers like “Lisa” posting on Facebook pages and
spreading the message of private higher education within her high school and college
friends.

Hire NAICU College Counselors:


From our expert interviews, we conducted that college counselors play a huge role in the
student and parents’ life during applying for colleges. We recommend that the NAICU
creates free college counselors that parents and students can reach out to and gather
more information if needed. This can be done online with messaging back and forth or in-
person with a NAICU college counselor in the community.

Create Blog Series:


We recommend the NAICU to create blog posts and having a series of blogs. Within the
posts, the NAICU can capture student stories from private universities explaining why they
picked that certain school and what they are involved in. By having these blog posts, it will
allow parents and students to understand the different aspects and benefits of private
higher education coming from current or recent college students.

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Recomendations
Make NAICU Scholarships:
Based on our survey and secondary research, we conducted that private universities are not
affordable for most families. The number one answer to our survey question was that
financials can be a major factor when picking a school. By creating NAICU scholarship
programs, it will allow for students and parents to have a choice in going to a private
university and sending their child to a private university without the burden of financial
obligations. An essay based scholarship on “why you think a private education is for you
and why it is currently not accessible to you” would be the questions students have to
answer in order to gain a certain amount of scholarship money.

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Appendices

Intro
This survey is intended to gauge your honest opinions about
higher education. The survey is completely anonymous. We
are looking for a diverse group of college students. Please
answer the following questions as honestly and accurately
as possible, there is no right or wrong answers. Thank you
for taking the time to take our survey, it will take about 15
minutes to complete.

General
Are you a current college student?

Yes No

How do you identify?

Male Female Other: ___________

How much higher education have your parents completed?

None Some college All of College Post-College (Masters,


PhD)
What type of school did your parents attend?

N/A Community Public Private Online

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Survey

1. Do you believe your student will attend any form of higher education?

Yes No

2.
How many colleges do you think your student will apply to? (fill in
answer below)

___________

3.
What type of higher education is your student looking at? Select all that
apply.

N/A Community Public Private Online

4.
If it was solely your decision, what type of higher education would you
pick for your student?

N/A Community Public Private Online

Other: _______________

5.
Rank the following characteristics by what you think is most important
when choosing a college. (1-6, 1 being the most important)

Cost Sports

Apperance Financial Aid

Opportunities
General Notoriety

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Survey

6. I want my student to attend a private university.

Strongly Disagree Strongly Agree


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

7.
Private universities are.. (place a check in the appropriate dashes)
a. Expensive - - - - - - Cheap
b. Better- - - - - - Worse
c. Beautiful - - - - Ugly

8.
Public universities universities are.. (place a check in the appropriate
dashes)
a. Expensive - - - - - - Cheap
b. Better- - - - - - Worse
c. Beautiful - - - - Ugly

9. I will be paying for the majority of my student's education.

Strongly Agree Neither agree Disagree Strongly


Agree nor disagree Disagree

10.
When choosing a college, what are the most important qualities? You
have 10 points to distribute however you see fit.
Classes
Apperance Cost
offered
Study abroad
Community Notoriety
programs
Post grad
Sports
General
oppotunities

Thank You
Thank you for taking the time to participate our survey. You
time is greatly appreciated.
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Focus Group
For this focus group, the goal is to better understand the
college selection process from the perspective of current
college students. I want to know what types of schools they
looked at, which type they chose to actually attend, and
what was important to them during this process. Students
are one of the most influential opinions during the college
decision process aside from parents. I also hope to find out
more about the financial aspect of higher education. For
example, who is paying for the majority of their education,
do they have loans, and how much of a factor was the
financial aspect during their decision process. Through the
two planned activities, I will ask these questions as follow
ups to the more obvious questions that are directly related
to the activity.

Intro: 1 minute
Hello all, thank you for taking the time today to participate
on our focus group. There are no right or wrong answers
here, the only thing we care about it honesty and to hear
from all of you. While this session is being recorded, it will
be transcribed and then video will be deleted. The transcript
will be kept anonymous. Before we begin, I need you all to
read and sign the consent form as well as answer a brief
questionnaire. Are there any questions?
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Questionnaire: 5 minutes
Are you currently enrolled in a college or universityt?

Yes No

How do you identify?

Male Female Other: ___________

How many years have you attened higher education for?

0-1 2 3 4 5+

IWhat type of higher education are you currently enrolled in?

N/A Community Public Private Online

Ice Breaker: 5 minutes


Before we begin, I would like us to go around the room and
introduce ourselves. Along with your name, please share
your favorite class that you are currently enrolled in as well
as your favorite part about your current college. I will start.
My favorite class I am currently enrolled in is Strategic
Research Methods and my favorite part about my university
is the beautiful campus.

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Activity 1: 18 minutes
For this activity, I want you to draw a picture of the perfect
college for YOU! What amenities are there? Include things
like spaces on campus like a large library or sports complex.
Estimate how large of a college you think is the right size.
How many students is ideal? Is there a large town center, is
it in a city?

I will give you guys about 5 minutes to sketch out your


ideas, don't worry this is not about artistic ability! Once
everyone is done we will go around the room and share our
ideas and drawings of the ideal campus for you.

Activity 2: 16 minutes
Activity 1
Pretend the current college application process does not
exist. Instead, students are able to interview colleges and
ask whatever questions they would like and the school must
answer honestly.

What would you ask?


What questions do you think colleges are not always honest
about?
How do you think your questions would change the way you
viewed a school?

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Thank You
Activity
Thank you again 1for taking the time out of your day to
participate in this focus group! Your honesty and answers
are greatly appreciated and will serve as an important part
of our research. I would like to repeat that all discussions
today will be kept anonymous after the transcribing process.
Please hand in your questionnaire before you leave. Again,
thank you for your time. Your thoughts are extremely
valuable.

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Expert Interviews
By conducting expert interviews, we hope to gain further insight into the
minds of mothers of soon to be college students. The college decision
process is not just a daunting and scary process for students, but also
their parents. In these interviews, we will be specifically looking at her
concerns. By looking at her concerns, we will be able to see where the
current college process is lacking in support. From there, we will be able
to better make recommendations for the NAICU regarding ways to
support parents during the college decision process. If the NAICU is able
to properly supporting parents, they may be more likely to want to send
their child to a private university. Listed below are some example
questions.

1. What part of the college decision process is the hardest for you?

2. What part of the decision process do you think is hardest for your
child?

3. Do you feel like you agree with your child on views of higher
education?

4. Do you feel like you have all the information you need to help your
child pick a college?

5.Do you feel properly supported in the process?

6. Who in your life do you feel like you can turn to with questions
regarding the college decision process?

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Expert Interviews
By conducting expert interviews, we hope to gain further insight into the
minds of mothers of soon to be college students. The college decision
process is not just a daunting and scary process for students, but also
their parents. In these interviews, we will be specifically looking at her
concerns. By looking at her concerns, we will be able to see where the
current college process is lacking in support. From there, we will be able
to better make recommendations for the NAICU regarding ways to
support parents during the college decision process. If the NAICU is able
to properly supporting parents, they may be more likely to want to send
their child to a private university. Listed below are some example
questions.

1. What part of the college decision process is the hardest for you?
2. What part of the decision process do you think is the hardest for your
child?
3. Do you feel like you agree with your child on views of higher
education?
4. Do you feel like you have all the information you need to help your
child pick a college?
5.Do you feel properly supported in the process?
6. Who in your life do you feel like you can turn to with questions
regarding the college decision process?
7. Do you wish you had more/less say in the college decision process?
8. Who do you think if your most valuable resource when it comes to the
decision process?
9. Who do you feel is your child’s most valuable resource?
10. Is there anything you wished you had known prior to this process?

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Experiment/Sentiment Analysis
We plan on showing both parents of potential college students different
college promotional videos. Colleges produce promotional videos to post
online as well as show before a tour of the university. These videos often
sum up their values, display their campus, and give reasons as to why a
student should attend their school. After each video we will ask the
participant how it made them feel and which points they thought were
the most convincing and compelling. Once we receive these answers we
will use sentiment analysis to uncover true feelings and the potential
meanings behind the participants answers.

This will allow us to do two things. First, it will give us a deeper


understanding of what is most valuable to both students and parents in
the college decision process by seeing what parts of the video were most
compelling to them. For example, if their favorite part of the video were
the scenic shots of the campus, then campus aesthetic may be
something that is valuable to them. Secondly, once we have analyzed our
response we will be able to recommend how the NAICU could potentially
create an amazing promotional video for private higher education.

A promotional video for the NAICU as a whole will clarify their values,
their mission, and how they are achieving it. It would also allow them to
highlight some of the schools within the association. This part of our
primary research will be conducted in order to produce a thoughtful and
complete recommendation to the NAICU about the potential of a
promotional video and if they take the recommendation, what
information is the most essential to include.

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Experiment Procedure
Videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmFo5bYlHIk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTIbIcYaIb4&t=21s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1e11lsrSvw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YTxE2ZbFF8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjl0Y__e0H4

Procedure:
Show a mom each video. Between each video, have her talk about how it
made her feel, her favorite parts, and her least favorite parts. Record the
conversation to transcribe later. Once we have collected all of the best
quotes, we will be able to pull out common themes. 

Specific questions to ask: after each video 


How did this video make you feel?
What do you think are the most compelling aspects of the video?
What elements did you not connect to?

Specific questions to ask: after watching all videos 


Now that you have watched all the videos, is there one that you could
identify as your favorite?
How about least favorite? 
Do you think college promotion videos work? 
Is there something these videos were lacking that you think would add
to their value?

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COMPANY PROFILE: DATA


Statement of Values:
A code of ethics is built on the foundation of widely shared values. These values include: 
Commitment to the public good;
Accountability to the public;
Commitment beyond the law;
Respect for the worth and dignity of individuals;
Inclusiveness and social justice;
Respect for pluralism and diversity
Transparency, integrity and honesty;
Responsible stewardship of resources; and,
Commitment to excellence and to maintaining the public trust.  
Code of Ethics:
The NAICU’s code of ethics covers the topics of; personal and professional integrity,
promoting the NAICU mission, having an honest and competent board of directors,
following all laws, reasonable budgeting, openness and disclosure, and diversity and
inclusion. The NAICU values each of these topics equally and realizes the importance of
each. 
NAICU Membership: Members of NAICU are independent (private) nonprofit institutions of
higher education located in the United States. State associations representing
independent colleges and universities, and national, regional, and other special-purpose
associations of independent colleges and universities are also eligible for membership.
Each member is represented by its chief executive officer.

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COMPANY PROFILE: DATA


Governance: Board of Directors
The Board of Directors consists of 44 members with an additional four non-voting members. Of
those, 24 board members are directly elected to three-year terms by the membership (three
from each of the eight NAICU regions). All 24 must be chief executive officers of member
colleges or universities. The 24 directly-elected board members elect 12 additional directors to
three-year terms. These electives must also must be member college or university chief
executive officers. 

Beyond their three-year term, the chair of the board serves a fourth year, and the immediate
past chair of the board a fifth year, with vote. With the exception of the NAICU president, all
officers are college or university presidents. The vice chair, secretary, and treasurer are elected by
the board of directors from the members of the board. The election of the chair and vice chair is
ratified by the membership at the annual meeting. Upon completion of his or her term, the vice
chair becomes the chair.

Officers of NAICU:
The Chair
Vice Chair
Secretary
Treasurer of the Board of Directors
President

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COMPANY PROFILE: DATA

Committees: There are 7 committees within the NAICU that specialize in certain areas of the
higher education field.

Executive Committee: Elected by the NAICU board, the Executive Committee consists of the
officers, the past board chair, plus the chairs of the four policy committees described below and
two at-large members.

Administration Committee: The Committee is charged with overseeing the finances,


membership activities, and other issues related to the operation of the Association.

Audit Committee: The Committee oversees the Association's financial accounting process,
internal controls, independent auditors, conflict of interest policies and other related matters.

Committee on Accountability: NAICU seeks appropriate regulation of private colleges and


universities that is sensitive to institutional diversity and independence, while also addressing
society's needs.  The Committee establishes the policy agenda with a particular focus on
legislative, regulatory and other public policy initiatives.

Committee on Policy Analysis and Public Relations: The Committee identifies issues affecting
independent higher education and suggests priorities and strategies for research and public
relations activities to enhance public understanding and support for private, nonprofit colleges
and universities.

Committee on Student Aid: NAICU seeks to ensure adequate funding for the core student aid
programs. The Committee sets the Association's policy agenda, including federal funding issues
and examination of options available to students for financing their college education.

Committee on Tax Policy: NAICU promotes a tax policy that helps families save and pay for
college, and private colleges fulfill their distinctive missions.  The Committee is responsible for
setting the Association's policy agenda in the tax arena, including: maintaining federal support
for the federal tax benefits for students and families, while protecting the tax-exempt status of
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TARGET AUDIENCE: DATA 
The Cost:

The main concern of prospective students is most evidently, the cost. In fact, 40% of

students turn down their first choice schools due to financials (US News). The average cost

of tuition for a private school in the 2018-2019 school year was $35,676, which is

significantly more than the tuition at public universities. In-state public universities and

colleges had an average tuition of $9,716 while out-of-state averaged at $21,629 (US News).

A prospective students main concern about attending a private school speaks for itself

based off of the prior numbers.

But, those students would be wrong to see such numbers and assume that a public

university is more affordable than a private. In many cases, a private education is much

more affordable. The affordability of private schools is closer in reach than perceived as

private colleges often offer general financial aid. Additionally, independent universities

offer a large amount of financial help through scholarships and grants. Due to private

colleges and universities being run as non-profit organizations, they receive funding in the

form of public subsidies, tax breaks, and grants. This allows for more freedom in using

these resources, whereas a public university faces many restrictions on where their money

goes since they are funded by the government (Adastra). Essentially, more money is

available to give students financial aid at a private school. This indicates that while the

upfront cost of a private university or college is higher than a public college, many

students pay much less than the listed tuition price.

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TARGET AUDIENCE: DATA 


The Cost: Continued
An excellent example that represents the affordability of private schools is the average
debt of a college student in Ohio. The 2016 College Scorecard, which is produced by the
U.S. Department of Education, reveals the average debt of a student at an Ohio public
university varies between $22,250 and $39,000. This compares to some of Ohio’s well-
known private colleges such as Denison and Kenyon, whose students accumulate
between $25,000 and $18,305 in student debt. That’s right, the typical student attending
Kenyon College, where the tuition is $49,220 a year, graduates with less student debt than
a student attending Ohio State, where tuition is $10,037 (Dispatch).

Another important finding of the research done shows that finding a bargain cost for a
state school is becoming much more difficult. During the Great Recession, tuition at both
private and public colleges and universities spiked as affected by the economy. Currently
state spending on public education is at a historic low since the 2007-2008 school year.
This means that right now public colleges have a large margin to increase tuition, which is
not the same for their private counterparts. From 2008-2020 the tuition for an in-state
college/university rose 63% (US News).

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TARGET AUDIENCE: DATA 


Who/What Impacts a Student's Decision?:
In an effort to understand the consumer who is, in this case, a student we must
understand how their decision to attend a private school over a public school is being
impacted. To do so, we needed to know who is paying for the student’s education.
Thorough secondary research presented us with the following information about the
average student:

10% of the cost total cost of tuition and fees is paid for by parents with borrowed funds
14% of the total cost is covered by students after taking out student loans
29% is covered by scholarships and grants

To know who is paying for a student’s education is to consider who in the student’s life is
making the final decision. Upon further research, an average of 39% of families report that
the student’s choice of college was made entirely by the parents. This compares to the
24% of students who made their decision entirely on their own, and the 30% of families
who say they made the decision together.

Interestingly, the type of school a student attends has a noticeable effect on the decision-
making process.  Attendees of community colleges often make the decision on their own
while parents are more likely to decide for their child if the student is attending a public
college or university. Students who attend private colleges and universities tend to share
the decision making process with their parents (Edmit).

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TARGET AUDIENCE: DATA 


Who/What Impacts a Student's Decision?:
In an effort to understand the consumer who is, in this case, a student we must
understand how their decision to attend a private school over a public school is being
impacted. To do so, we needed to know who is paying for the student’s education.
Thorough secondary research presented us with the following information about the
average student:

10% of the cost total cost of tuition and fees is paid for by parents with borrowed funds
14% of the total cost is covered by students after taking out student loans
29% is covered by scholarships and grants

To know who is paying for a student’s education is to consider who in the student’s life is
making the final decision. Upon further research, an average of 39% of families report that
the student’s choice of college was made entirely by the parents. This compares to the
24% of students who made their decision entirely on their own, and the 30% of families
who say they made the decision together.

Interestingly, the type of school a student attends has a noticeable effect on the decision-
making process.  Attendees of community colleges often make the decision on their own
while parents are more likely to decide for their child if the student is attending a public
college or university. Students who attend private colleges and universities tend to share
the decision making process with their parents (Edmit).

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TARGET AUDIENCE: DATA 


Who/What Impacts a Student's Decision?: Continued
Furthermore, the increase in schools going test-optional holds an appeal for prospective
students. Test-optional schools allow for students to decide if their test-taking ability is an
essential part of their identity as a student. Even more so, testing prep and test taking is an
expensive fee. Not everyone can afford to pay for extensive and diligent test prep courses
or services. Some students also may not be able to take the SAT or ACT multiple times due
to the fees, so the testing system automatically puts students of a lower socioeconomic
class at a disadvantage. This statistically includes people of color and immigrants, leaving
the testing system to favor white, male, wealthy students who have the resources to better
prepare themselves for testing (Ingenious Prep).

TARGET AUDIENCE: DATA & INSIGHTS


How to Reach Target Audience:
Colleges continue to market to prospective students increasingly with the use of
technology including internet marketing tactics as well as the use of social media. These
practices can be especially useful for online colleges, who with the increase of
technological connectedness has been able to field classes full of remote students
potentially even out of the country. This is all executed through digital marketing. Mark
Porcaro executive director of online learning at Wichita State claims that this online
marketing is used in conjunction with big data techniques which tracks the info of site
visitors, something that would be impossible to do effectively in print, billboard, or radio
advertising. Through my research we were also able to find information about all the
different ways both private and public schools market to students and how effectively
they do it. The biggest takeaway from these charts was that on average, public schools
used more advertisement across all platforms, however, private school advertisement has
been more effective on recruits.

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TARGET AUDIENCE: DATA & INSIGHTS
How to Reach Target Audience: Continued
This was especially true in digital marketing. These different marketing categories
included online display advertising, pay-per-click social media advertisement, Re-targeted
ads that appear after visiting campus website, pay-per-click keywords or ads on search
sites, television ads, billboard or other outside advertisements, radio ads, and print media
ads.

COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS: DATA 


In 2017-2018, the average total cost for a public university was $25,657, with in-state
tuition total being even lower at $20,050.  For private universities, the average total cost
was $43,139, more than double the average in-state tuition for a public university. Another
major perk with regards to public universities is the accessibility.People are exposed to
these big name schools from a much earlier age from sports and news, while they may
not hear about a private university until later in high school, even though there are more
private schools in the U.S. than public schools.

National Center for


Education Statistics,
Digest of Education
Statistics, 2006.

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INDUSTRY ANALYSIS: DATA 


When it comes to job searching, the choice of a college can determine what type of job you
get. Employers do not stereotype future employees from what college they went to, but it
can be a factor depending on what type of job you are searching for. A business article
posted on the Atlantic showed a graph that displays what employers look for. College
reputation was a factor for employers, but they tend to look more for experience and
internships. However, most employers know that private higher education prepares one for
the real world than a public education due to getting exposed experience.

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INDUSTRY ANALYSIS: DATA 


According to a blog post from New America, the number one factor in deciding where to go
to college was what majors and programs each offer. Students are going to college to
improve their employment opportunities, so having a college where they can be more of a
well-rounded student takes their advantage. The graph below shows that 67% of students
believe that majors offered is one of the most important, which it should be. Public colleges
provide a wide range of majors that can be pleasing to the student. However, private higher
education provides a range of majors where the student can dig deeper into their specific
major. Also,most private colleges "emphasize the liberal arts or fine arts" which gives students
the opportunity to be a well-rounded student, person, and employee (Petersons, 2017).

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CULTURE & TRENDS: DATA 
Parent Perspectives:

According to a survey by CollegeParents.org, 94% of parents surveyed believe their student is


academically prepared to complete college, indicating that issues other than academic
readiness may disrupt their student education. 76% of parents surveyed are confident in their
student’s ability to complete college with only 18% of parents surveyed are concerned about
their child’s ability to complete college. College parents are aware that not all students who
start college complete it. In fact, the overall six-year completion rate for first-time-in college
degree-seeking students who started college in fall 2009 was 52.9 yet, parents surveyed in
the 2016 study have a high degree of confidence in their college students. The financial
aspect of higher education is also very important in understanding college students and their
parents. Nearly 45% of parents’ report that they are contributing more than 75% of the
financial cost for their child. 71% of parents say that paying for higher education is the second
largest investment in their familial financial life while 30% say it is their largest financial
obligation.

Alarmingly, 59% of parents surveyed report that it would be difficult to continue helping pay
for college if “either myself or my spouse suffered an unexpected job loss.” Although many
parents seem to cover the majority of higher education costs, students still may need to take
out loans. 46% of parents surveyed worry that their student may be under-employed or fail to
secure a job that pays enough to cover the cost of their student loans.
Something not many parents seem to be aware off is institutional Refund Policies for higher
education with only 24% of parents surveyed indicate that the college refund policy was
disclosed to them during the enrollment process. Over 60% of parents do not know what
would happen if their child was suddenly unable to continue the school year or how to
refund process works.

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CULTURE & TRENDS: DATA 
Parent Perspectives: Continued

If a student does have to withdraw, 23% of parents surveyed say that they could not pay for
an additional semester of classes in order to make up for the possible non-refunded financial
losses due to a withdrawal with only 51% of parents say they could afford an extra semester
due to a withdrawal. Aside from tuition costs, parents have to think of other incurred costs
like a damaged laptop, with 48% of parents concerned about these potential added costs.

In regards to parents’ involvement, over 2/3 of parents surveyed report participating in family
events like move-in, orientation, and family weekends. This can lead to additional costs with
40% of surveyed parents saying their students goes to school more than four hours away.
With technology, communication across long distances has gotten much easier and 36% of
college parents surveyed communicate daily or multiple times per day with their student

CULTURE & TRENDS: DATA 


Student Perspectives:

Public colleges have a larger class size and campus, along with school spirit. Does a student
pick where he or she wants to go to college based on the success of the school's football or
basketball team? Is it a factor in the decision process?  A 2018 Washington Post article states
that there was an increase in applications after Auburn University won a football
championship. SEC (Southeastern Conference) college admission departments have noted
that a successful athletic program can increase the number of applications
received.However, most private schools do not have a focus on successful sports teams. This is
one reason why students pick a public college over a private college. J. Leon Washington,
Dean of Enrollment Management at Villanova saw a "22 percent increase in applications after
winning the 2016 NCAA tournament" (Washington Post, 2018). He believes that this increase is
because students want to be a part of that feeling and excitement. Private colleges (like Elon
University) focus more academics and experiences than sports. For example, when students
apply to Elon University, they apply because it's nationally ranked for campus success rather
than athletic success.
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CULTURE & TRENDS: DATA 
Student Perspectives:

CULTURE & TRENDS: DATA 


Academic Officer Perspectives:

In a study by Inside Higher Ed, they asked 539 provosts or chief academic officers questions
about their university. The anonymous survey asked questions on topics ranging from if they
provide a quality undergraduate education, their undergraduate support services, ability to
prepare students for the real world, and controlling rising costs to families. The findings were
that private schools seem to be the most confident in their universities and their services with
community colleges being the least confident.

A survey from consulting firm Ithaka S+R, asked respondents about the current state of
undergraduate education and about 20 trends and events in higher education between June
of 2016 and May of 2017. The results show that the appointment of Betsy DeVos as Education
Secretary was the event with the highest impact and the most negative with the “prior-prior
year” federal policy change. The policy allows students to complete the Free Application for
Federal Student Aid earlier by using tax returns from two years ago, among the most positive
high-impact events

In another study by Inside Higher Ed in 2016, only 37% of admissions directors said they had
met their student enrollment goals for the fall class by May 1 compared to 42% the previous
year. During the previous year, this number was equal for both private and public universities
and colleges. However, during 2016, the number of private colleges that met their goals by
May 1 was only down to 41 percent while the percentage of public colleges and universities
meeting the May 1 deadline went down dramatically to only 29%. This dramatic difference is
most likely caused by community colleges which are considered public universities.

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CULTURE & TRENDS: DATA 


Academic Officer Perspectives: Continued

They do not view the May 1 deadline to be as important as other types of high education.
As well, community colleges have been facing enrollment issues with 88% of community
colleges reporting that their enrollment numbers have decreased from 2014-2016.
Admission directors across all types of universities feel pressure to make quota with 54%
saying they are “very concerned” about meeting enrollment goals.

Updates in Higher Education:


One current issue in the Higher Education world is some universities going test optional.
This means students do not need to take or submit scores from tests like the SAT and ACT.
This practice seems to be more common within private schools. From the U.S. News &
World Report’s list, 50% of the lists top 100 liberal arts colleges are test optional. 47% of
higher education officials believe that more schools with start becoming test optional in
the near future. Along with the option to be test optional, changes in the tests themselves
are leading to disagreements in the higher education community.  While the goal of the
redesigned test was the be better matched with high school curriculum, only 2% of
university officials “strongly agree” that the new SAT is a better test.

With rising student debt levels, there has also been a change in what is thought of as an
acceptable amount of student debt by university officials. Across the board, private
universities were okay with higher amounts of debt with 45% of private university officials
thinking that $20,000-$30,000 of debt is reasonable compared to only 27% of public
schools. A last interesting tidbit is that the education sector spent $234 million dollars on
newspaper advertising alone.

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MEDIA CONVERGANCE: DATA 
Current prospective students have grown up with technology and social media, making
them the experts. Previously, in-coming first year students relied heavily on official university
guides and rankings, however 83% of current students now use social media channels to help
them make their college decision (The Conversation). Now when students go online and
google a school, some of the first results are the schools social media pages. So we gathered
information findings on the best way for schools to use social media and how it can guide a
student to apply to a school.

How Students Use Social Media in the College Process:

In order to reach students online, we have to know where online prospective students are. It
is important to note the main users across different platforms. Facebook’s users skew to an
older audience, Twitter is most often used for admissions to connect with each other, and
Snapchat and Instagram is very student focused. The Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs
Research shares these statistics on American teens’ usage of social media: 76% use
Instagram, 75% use Snapchat, 66% use Facebook, and 47% use Twitter.  According to the
2017 Social Admissions Report, developed by Chegg, Target X, and the National Research
Center for College and University Admissions, students typically visit college websites to
gather information and use social media as a tool to help them make a decision. Students
turn to social media to gain a sense of what it is like to be a student there and what the
campus is like. In this case, social media is less essential to increasing student awareness and
is more helpful for influencing college choice (Nacacnet).

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How Students Use Social Media in the College Process: Continued

An interesting perspective that incoming students tend to have is that social media is more
credible than traditional media. This is due to prospective students coming from a
generation that is surrounded by social and digital media, allowing for students to use these
technologies as a source of information. This reliability that students have on social media
also comes from the genuine and authentic voice that is put out on different social platforms.
Media such as blogs, Instagram posts, Facebook Live, and many more channels give students
the opportunity to hear from other young adults who are in similar phases of life. The
difference in using media is that it is less pristine, sanitized, censored, and edited than
content featured on a university’s website or admissions guide (Vtl Design). Even more so,
students appreciate the content on social media because it is current and happening right
now. These students are living in a time where you can get results, photos, news,
entertainment, even food with a few clicks and scrolls. Taking that into consideration,
students respond better to colleges social media when it is current and updated. The
responsiveness of answering questions quickly and liking comments of praise about their
school, is something that students pay attention to on college and university pages (CNN).

Social media is able to showcase various perspectives and dynamics of the college
experience. What becomes important is the uniqueness of a school and how it is showcased.
Additionally, social media is important to the students who cannot afford to travel to visit a
college campus. The digital media on a website, blog, or Instagram page becomes vital in this
situation to represent the campus and the school’s brand as best as possible. The same goes
for international students who rely on media to guide their decision (Hired Jobs). Social
media puts a face to the school, especially for those who cannot visit the campus.

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