Won’t Someone Please Think of the Transfer Students?

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When COVID closes a door, it opens a window. As schools across North America grapple with how (and whether) to re-open, and debate internally about the quality of remote and online learning, students are considering alternatives.

In an environment where prospective students are behaving even more like customers in an option-rich market, their wandering eyes are landing on other schools’ home pages, social media channels and other online connections. Their institutions can’t serve them in the way they expected, so they’re looking for ones that can.

Pay Attention to Transfer Students

Nearly 40% of students enrolled in a postsecondary program transferred from another institution. And though that’s not a demographic schools should ignore, the 2020 report on E-Expectations of Transfer Students suggests learners with previous higher education experience are having a rough time finding what they need as they approach other schools online.

A survey of more than 1,100 students made one thing clear: Transfer students aren’t like traditional students, and they need to be marketed to and engaged with uniquely.

When interacting with prospective schools, transfer students have a different mindset. They choose their institutions quickly, often with specific reasons for the move. Not only are they experienced consumers outside the higher education market; they’re experienced postsecondary customers too.

They’ve done this before, and they know what they want.

Is Your Digital Presence Speaking to Transfer Students?

In the survey, learners said they were frustrated with how little schools offered online that addressed their needs as transfer students. They struggled to find information relevant to them, couldn’t access details about programs they were interested in. They even had difficulties finding if and how their existing credits could be transferred!

Among myriad issues, the message their potential school was sending was one of indifference.

Rita Detwiler, Vice President for Enrollment Management at University of Lynchburg, told the EvoLLLution that a one-size-fits-all approach doesn't work for transfer students.

“Institutions often focus on the needs of their traditional student base and apply those same strategies and tactics to non-traditional audiences, which can make transfer students feel like they’re not a priority,” Detwiler said. “It’s no surprise that these students get frustrated with the process.”

Universities rely on incoming transfer students to do the work of persisting and reaching out if they can’t navigate their complicated digital environment. But for these experienced learners, forcing them to jump through hoops is not the hallmark of a modern campus. Rather than persisting through a poor web experience, prospective transfer students will likely decide to find a more student-centric university.

Here are three ways you can engage with transfer students on their own terms, and grow your enrollments within this increasing population.

Make Your Website Friendly to Transfer Students

Most students first engage with your school by walking right through the front door—your school’s website homepage.

A Google search is still the main way most incoming transfer students find universities that could be a fit, and students ranked their experience with the school’s website as the biggest influencer on their decision.

Like many traditional students, survey respondents said they want their institution’s website to provide a clear path to success. They also want easy-to-find tools to help them achieve that success, and detailed program information.

But university websites aren’t delivering on these expectations. 57% of transfer students said navigation issues were the biggest challenge they faced interacting with a school. They said information specific to their situation—like whether their credits will transfer, or information on settling in at a new campus—is conspicuously absent.

THINK ABOUT YOUR UNIVERSITY: Your website is the face of your institution. Do you speak directly to transfer students with content? Do you deliver transfer-specific information, especially credit transfer process details (after all, community college students lose almost half of their credits when transferring)? Can you get to that information within two clicks?

It can also help to make sure your site design includes pathways for transfer students. Their journey doesn't reflect that of a traditional high school-to-college learner, and Detwiler said it covers your bases to guide them to the resources they may need.

“We know that the number-one informational resource for students is the college or university website,” Detwiler said. “So, if a transfer student can find themselves represented on the website—if they can find the information that they need about the transfer process, if they can learn about an open house, if they can find out about the number of their credits that will transfer in, or who the correct contact person is—that goes a long way towards demonstrating that the institution is committed to making the transfer experience a positive one.”

Michelle Fach, Director of Open Learning and Educational Support at the University of Guelph, said the school’s ability to support students hinges on its ability to adapt to modern expectations.

“We pride ourselves in the quality of service we deliver and the personalized support that our staff provides to our clients,” Fach said. “We have a responsibility as a cost-recovery unit to continue to evolve in order to remain viable. If we don’t continue to evolve and improve we’re not going to be around.”

Tera Buckley, Director Web and Multimedia Marketing, Division of Marketing and Communications at University of North Dakota, said having non-specific pathways for students on the school’s website forced students to put program information together piecemeal.

“Before we designed a guided pathway so that students could self-select their academic journey, we had information about UND programs in four different areas: the catalog, department site, online program listing on our extended learning site, and admissions page. You’d have to go multiple places to get information—and it wasn’t always the same information or even updated,” Buckley said.

Buckley said guided pathways are the crux of the site’s program finder, and that it’s even speaking to digital visitors they didn’t expect it to.

“Our program finder has been a popular addition to our website, and we’re currently working to add even more options for displaying rankings and videos. Interestingly, while we designed our pathways primarily for prospective students, we’ve discovered that current students also use it to explore majors.”

She said customizing snippets through their content management system (CMS) allowed them to display different types of content, prompting visitors to choose pathways that appeal to them.

“This process for personalizing our pathways has worked very well,” Buckley said.

Make Yourself Accessible Through Social Media

There’s a reason that influencers and thought leaders put so much effort into their Instagram and YouTube digital presence. A billboard with a smiling student on a tall building is nice, but marketing works best when it’s targeted. These channels are essential to reaching learners online.

Today’s students spend a lot of time on social media, and engagement through these channels can make a difference in their academic planning. Almost half of the surveyed transfer students said they used Instagram when planning their transfer; nearly a third used Facebook; and a quarter used YouTube.

An ivy-walled institution with a miniscule following and a lackluster social presence doesn't just send the message that your school’s out of touch. It means you’re missing out on the audience access that drives enrollment in an all-digital age—access that e-commerce giants learned to leverage long ago.

THINK ABOUT YOUR UNIVERSITY: Build your digital presence to get out where students can see you. Is your institution accessible through all available social media? Consider more ad placement on social channels, and have someone create compelling content frequently at regular intervals. Remember that social media is not just a one-way street. Does your school post content, but doesn't stick around to respond to engagements? Pay attention to user comments, concerns and inquiries, because they’re an opportunity to connect with prospective students directly. A direct dialogue with your learners shows them you value their input, and also lets you know what’s on their mind when considering your offerings (and what might be on the minds of similar students).

Location-based ad campaigns can boost enrollments via social media as well. The 2020 E-Expectations Report found that transfer students lean towards the what they know, and familiarity with the location is a main driver for them.

Social Media Program Coordinator at Seneca College, Bhupesh Shah said higher education could learn from the business world, and make the most of (mostly) free social media resources.

“The corporate world is using video ads on Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook and, increasingly, Instagram Stories to engage with their target audience,” Shah wrote in an article for the EvoLLLution.

He wrote that in the current market, there’s lots of room for divisions to use social media to attract schools with their unique voice.

“Most institutions look and sound the same—a staid, stale, old-school (pun intended) approach. Money is being wasted when you have a presence that doesn't really do much other than what is expected.”

Make Your Site Findable for Transfer Students

It won’t come as a surprise that Google remains the gatekeeper between you and your transfer prospects. Research shows the search bar is still the top way students looking to transfer find your school, which means it should be near the top of your priorities to make sure you’re not slipping in the rankings. And since most search users only click through the first few results to answer their query, your ranking is really important to your visibility. As such, strong search engine optimization (SEO) practices need to be central to your transfer student engagement strategy.

THINK ABOUT YOUR UNIVERSITY: If social media puts you where students can see you, SEO ticks the same box for the robots. Are your pages popping up beneath the first few search results (or worse—on page two and beyond)? Google can be unforgiving, but you can appease it by tailoring your content and positioning your web pages to match the top student search phrases. Do so frequently, too: Student needs change over time, and so do their searches. Do you know your learners well enough to tailor your pages to their searches? Conduct research on search terms used by transfer students and plot your online presence accordingly.

Craig Maslowsky, Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management at Antioch University, wrote that robust SEO practices may require professional help, but pay off in the long run.

“Your key pages must be written for Search Engine Optimization (SEO), and that must be handled by a professional. Do-it-yourself SEO is a dangerous way to handle a critical element of your marketing strategy,” Maslowsky wrote. “Organic search results are your best friend when this is the case. Identify areas where you offer a unique solution for non-traditional students and optimize your content to get prospects there quickly.”

Reach Transfer Students Where They Are

Students are putting more weight in their ability to interact with a school digitally than ever before: Half of the survey’s respondents found their school through a digital connection.

With website information, social content and search-optimized pages that cater to transfer students’ unique circumstances, you can deliver make sure you’re delivering experiences that inspire interest and drive them to connect with your campus at a critical point in their lives.

Alicia Abney, Advising Manager for the College of Education at Middle Tennessee State University, told the EvoLLLution that transfer students often come to a new school at a difficult stage in their academic career.

“They feel like they’ve failed because their initial plan at their initial institution, for whatever reason, did not work out,” Abney said. “All students must have the opportunity to understand that faculty and administration will support, advocate for and guide each student to achieve their goals.”

Learn what transfer students expect from your division this year with Modern Campus' E-Expectations of Transfer Students 2020.

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Student Experience Scaling Non-Degree Education

Last updated: February 1, 2021