Marketing College to You
If you have a high school, Junior, or Senior, you may have started the college shopping process. First, you check out the beautiful pictures and videos online. Then you make a plan to go see your favorites. What a Trip!
And I mean that sentence. What. A. Trip. I found myself on a local private University’s campus at the end of their Homecoming weekend for an unrelated reason. I saw tours being conducted early on a Sunday morning; alumni were wearing various levels of ribbons denoting whatever; everything was scrubbed, painted, and looked amazing.
But it made me think—- Homecoming is about opening wallets and hearts, and it is another variation of the Admissions Department hunt for paying students. And it may be more important than ever.
The decline in students attending colleges and universities continues, exacerbated by Covid and the smaller cohort of eligible kids. Admissions are under the gun to bring in the students AND meet their “yield” goal, simultaneously. Yield is the percentage of students who actually attend (enroll) and pay the bill to attend a particular college. The national average yield is 38% of those who are admitted.
Based on a lot of characteristics, your student may be a target for “extra” Admissions attention from some places. While flattering, someone needs to keep a cool head AND eagle eye on the “offers” made. Some have limited value and “sound” better than they really are.
Let me arm you with some realities.
#1- Colleges will only discount to a certain level, and only do it heavily for their top-tier applicants.
In today’s market with fewer students, you’d think they’d do more discounts. Just the opposite appears to be true. With fewer students and more competition, they can’t offer more discounts. Most colleges and universities offer one or two full rides- and they are extraordinarily competitive. Back in the day, I was part of a “full ride” interview panel at my college. It was so painful to parse otherwise superb candidates to try to choose the right ones for the two “free-ride scholarships”. We then had to grade the rest for other, less generous scholarships. We hated every minute of it because really, almost every applicant deserved it.
If yours is quite good, but not THAT good, don’t expect more than 10-15% off the tuition and fees portion of the bill. The room and board are not a part of a scholarship discount. So if you are considering a public U, the room and board charges are running about 12k a year; the balance is tuition/fees. If you are going private, the tuition portion is generally a good bit higher but their room and board is similar.
#2 Inflation and high prices have eviscerated big-ticket scholarships.
A $10,000 scholarship would have paid all your tuition and fees at a public university until 2006, on average, and at a private school up until 1992. Today, that figure covers just 40% of the average public university's total cost, AND barely 15-25% of a private university around here. It’s nice, but not like it used to be. So—-IF by chance you get one of these attractive discounts, you still have to fund the rest of the costs. It helps, but it is never, ever enough.
#3 Marketing has gotten focused and brutal.
They know a lot about your student. Maybe more than you do. They have algorithms that tell them the likelihood of you actually paying for your student to attend. They profile YOUR student and YOU against their best mathematical model of what works for them. As long as you understand this reality, you are in a better position to see how this works. It may explain hyper attention from one school OR disinterest early on from another, for no apparent reason. It’s all in the profiles of the students who attend and pay.
#4 The “Sounds Good” substitutes at public universities
Outright scholarships are few and far between at most public universities. Instead, top students are awarded near-meaningless Honors College experiences, where they live with other high achievers, take a few life skills training classes, and voila; you are special. Costs little, means little, and sounds good. That’s marketing at its best. This is their thank you for capturing a high-achieving student.
Just don’t fall in love with the fresh paint job and beautiful Homecoming presentations. After all, someone is paying for all that.
Make sure you want it to be you.
Until Next Time,
All My Best,
Bonnie Burkett
p.s. Looking for a great Christmas gift for a student or their parents? My book, ENOUGH! The College Cost Crisis , is still a bargain, is still a 5-star read, and is still a steal! It could save the financial future of a student you love.
