College Websites, E-mail Among the Most Important Information Sources for Prospective Students – Campus Technology
When prospective students are learning about colleges, their top information source is e-mails from the school, according to a report from Eduventures, the research arm of NRCCUA. Based on a national survey of about 1,100 sophomores, juniors and seniors in high school, the Eduventures 2019 Student Sentiment Research Report explores students’ college search behaviors and communication preferences across various stages of the college search process.
In that initial awareness stage, college e-mails were rated as the highest impact information source by 62 percent of the students surveyed, followed by word of mouth from family and friends (57 percent) and school websites (46 percent). On the other end of the spectrum, public transportation advertising (2 percent), radio or music streaming ads (4 percent) and billboard advertising (5 percent) were the lowest impact sources for raising college awareness.
Notably, social media received a middling ranking from students — 35 percent of respondents said they use it in their college search — yet only 4 percent said they trust it as an information source.