What Works (and What Will get Ignored) In keeping with Actual College students
If you happen to work in enrollment or monetary assist, you’ve in all probability requested your self: What truly helps college students work out faculty, and what simply provides to the pile? For the 2025 E-Expectations survey, we went straight to the supply—practically 1,600 highschool college students themselves—and the solutions are refreshingly easy. Spoiler: it’s not in regards to the fanciest new tech, and it’s additionally not about drowning them in shiny brochures. With regards to their “faculty planning playbook,” youngsters are in search of clear, actionable steerage that helps them make an enormous life resolution with out dropping their sanity (or their financial savings).
Right here’s what we realized from our newest survey, and the way you should use it to truly transfer the needle.
College students aren’t simply window purchasing
Neglect the concept that college students are passively leafing by way of mailers. Right now’s candidates are strategic: they use no matter will get them nearer to a choice and tune out the remainder. Once we requested, “Which sources have you ever used and the way useful had been they?” the outcomes had been clear.
The highest 5: What actually works
1. College emails nonetheless rule: These emails you labor over? They’re not simply spam fodder. Almost 90% of scholars say they’re useful, and simply as many truly learn them. The catch? Brief, related, and well timed messages work greatest. If you happen to’re nonetheless sending electronic mail blasts that sound like a business, rethink your method.
2. The official faculty web site stays the king: When doubtful, college students go straight to the supply. 9 out of ten use faculty web sites to analysis faculties, making them the most-used device, and 88% % discover them genuinely useful. College students need the information—what packages exist, what dorms appear like, what deadlines are looming. In case your web site buries the fundamentals, you’re dropping them.
3. Nothing beats boots on the bottom: Visiting campus remains to be the gold customary for intestine checks. Eighty-eight % say in-person visits are useful, however solely 80% handle to take one (journey and price are actual obstacles). After they do, it’s a game-changer.
4. School planning web sites make life simpler: Consider these as digital steerage counselors. They’re utilized by 82% of scholars, and 85% say they’re useful. The draw? Simple side-by-side comparisons and fewer spreadsheet chaos.
5. School gala’s nonetheless pack a punch: They could be old fashioned however they’re efficient: 80% of scholars attend faculty gala’s, and 85% get useful information they couldn’t discover on-line. Typically, a face-to-face dialog is what ideas the size.
Thoughts the hole: Underused however highly effective
There are many instruments on the market, however a number of the most useful ones are flying underneath the radar. Right here’s the place faculties can do higher:
Digital excursions and VR experiences: College students who use them love them (84% useful), however solely 77% have tried. Digital can’t change a campus tour, however it’s the following neatest thing—particularly for out-of-state or lower-income college students.
On-line pupil communities: Genuine peer recommendation issues, however solely 77% learn about these platforms (though 84% discover them useful).
Monetary assist calculators: Nothing is scarier than the worth tag, however solely 81% use these instruments, though 85% say they’re useful.
Dwell chats and chatbots: Fast solutions, real-time assist, but solely about 70% of scholars use them. Visibility is the problem, not usefulness.
And let’s discuss customized texts and dwell messages from admissions counselors: college students crave direct, real-time communication, however solely 77% have gotten it, though 84% fee it as useful.
What enrollment execs ought to truly do
So what’s the actionable playbook? Right here’s what our knowledge says:
- Promote your digital stuff: Spotlight digital excursions, pupil communities, and interactive platforms, particularly for college kids who can’t go to in individual.
- Present the trail to a job: Put profession outcomes entrance and middle. College students need to see how your packages connect with real-world gigs.
- Make digital instruments not possible to overlook: When you’ve got a chatbot or dwell chat, make it apparent. Don’t bury these options in your web site.
- Lead with affordability: Share scholarship calculators and price instruments early and infrequently. Don’t make households hunt for them.
- Spend money on private contact: The extra tailor-made your outreach (assume texts, fast emails, not simply kind letters), the higher.
- Make campus visits occur: Subsidize journey, host regional go to days, or beef up your digital experiences for individuals who can’t make the journey.
The underside line
College students don’t desire a firehose of knowledge. They need a GPS. One of the best faculties aren’t those with the flashiest web sites or essentially the most emails—they’re those who assist college students navigate from “I’ve no clue” to “I’ve bought this.” Our job isn’t simply to supply information. It’s to be the trusted co-pilot on a pupil’s most vital highway journey.
Need the complete breakdown, together with extra knowledge and actionable insights?
Read the 2025 E-Expectations Trend Report to get a complete expertise of what college students anticipate and expertise when trying to find faculties. If you happen to’re critical about serving to college students (and your individual enrollment targets), you’ll need to see every thing we uncovered!
