The Rising Importance of Mobile and Social in Higher Ed

Social and mobile platforms are becoming more popular than ever for students and universities alike. A number of studies have recently been released that bring attention to this growing sector. We have included some of the highlights for your reading pleasure.

2012 International Student Buyer Behavior

IDP Education recently did a study that examined the primary drivers for international students in choosing their destination. Some of the results were:

Internet-based sources and education agents are the most important sources of information for international students.
2/3 students access the internet from two or more devices, highlighting the potential for smartphones as a communication channel with students.
A majority of students were highly engaged in social media and it is particularly influential for Chinese students.
Online profiles of institutions and current overseas students emerged as the top influencers for students from all source countries, suggesting a growing need for institutions to enrich their social network presence.

The complete report will be released in October 2012 but you can read the preliminary results here [PDF].

The Increasing Impact of Mobile Trends on College Admissions

Cappex conducted a survey of 2,124 college-bound students and admissions officers from 151 colleges about their digital and mobile habits. Some of the insights they found were:

Mobile-friendly websites are becoming a must-have for most colleges.
Mobile apps are gaining popularity among students for their college search.
E-mail remains the number one tool that students use to communicate with colleges, though they now receive those e-mails on their mobile devices.
Only 11% of students responded that they would like to be initially contacted via their home phone.
Nearly 50% of the small colleges surveyed ranked Facebook as important for following up with students.

Students want to access the essentials (Credit: Cappex)

You can access the full report here [PDF].

2012 E-Recruiting Practices Report

A new report from Noel-Levitz shows how universities are adopting online technologies to keep up with student habits. The study was based on a national poll of undergraduate admissions officials at American colleges and universities. Some of their findings were:

39% of four-year public universities and 35% of four-year private colleges now have a website that is optimized for mobile browsing. This number is expected to double by next year.
2/3 four-year universities use QR codes to attract students to their website.
After Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter, the most popular social media platforms by respondents are Foursquare, Google+, and Pinterest.
60% of prospective students reported they would be willing to allow an admissions representative to send them text messages.
More than 1/4 prospective students rated live chat events as an effective way to learn about a college’s academic program options, but most colleges do not offer live chats.

You can read more from the Noel-Levitz report here.