Prospective Student Intelligence for Data-Driven Recruitment Strategies

Canada’s competitive prospective postsecondary student landscape is entering a new age of data-driven and increasingly strategic recruiting. HESA is helping Canadian institutions to hone their recruitment efforts, using survey-based research to explore factors that can make student recruitment more effective, more efficient, and smarter.

HESA is launching two new surveys in 2016-2017 to explore the processes through which students learn about post-secondary institutions, and ultimately choose to attend one.

	Building on prior research (see below), HESA is launching this research series with the Early Influences Project (EIP). Based on prior research that found as much as 50% of prospective students had made up their mind by the beginning of the grade 12 year, EIP will follow a sample of Grade 11 students through the school year as they discover and develop preferences for different post-secondary programs and institutions. This research will investigate the factors that influence their decisions, the sources of information on which they base their preferences, and the most effective outreach and marketing efforts at this early stage. HESA is currently seeking new consortium members to contribute to the design and development of the first research of this kind in Canada. Contact us to learn more.
	Second, this fall HESA will launch the Parental Influence Project, a multi-wave survey that will analyze the influence that parents have over the selection process. Where parents have an impact on their children’s choices, they are also a critical target for outreach, marketing, and recruitment activities. This research will explore the factors that are important to parents, the messages that are the most effective to different parent segments, what types of media and activity are likely to be the most effective in reaching them, and most importantly, what institutions can do to influence their preferences. Like EIP, PIP is currently welcoming new consortium members to help frame and design this ground-breaking study. Contact us today for more details.

In 2015-2016, HESA launched this research series  with the Student Decisions Project, a longitudinal study that followed a group of grade 12 students beginning in September as they explored post-secondary institutions, read viewbooks, visited campuses and fairs, navigated the financial aid system, and ultimately chose an institution. We found deep differences across different segments of students, consistent preferences for particular methods of presenting information, and a more complex model of prospective student decision making than most recruiters assume. More details on SDP can be found here.

This was complemented by the Prospective Arts Student Survey, a similar research project that looked specifically at students interested in the Liberal Arts. Observing a steep downwards trend in interest in non-STEM disciplines, HESA worked with a consortium of institutions to explore why this was the case, the types of messages that persuade students to pursue liberal arts, and the most effective ways that recruiters can draw students into Arts programming. Click here to learn more.

Interested in using this research to build a strategy for the next recruitment season? Contact us today to start the conversation.