Transcript Document
CCCU
Chicago Workshop
New Perspectives on the
Research Findings
August, 2001
Goals of the Workshop
Summarize highlights of the research
Organize for implementation within similar
functions and across campus teams
Develop short-, mid-, and long-term
strategies for executing recommendations
Research Audiences
Rising
Juniors
Rising
Seniors
2002
2001
High
School
Graduates
2000
Prospects
Inquirers/
Parents
1986
Prospects
Inquirers/
Parents
Admitted
Students
1986
Inquirers
3
Research Highlights:
Timing for Admissions
Marketing
Prospective students are beginning the
search process earlier, many before the
junior year in high school.
Parents are starting even earlier.
Timing of College Search (2000)
50
40
28.2%
27.4%
30
21.0%
21.0%
18.0%
20
10
0
19.6%
17.1%
8.8% 8.8%
5.9%
6.0%
B e f o re F re s hm a n
Year
3.5%
B e f o re F re s hm a n
Year
D uring S o pho m o re
Year
Inquirers
B e f o re m id- po int
o f J unio r Y e a r
S pring o f J unio r
Year
S um m e r a f t e r
J unio r Y e a r
Parents of Inquirers
5.8%
2.4%
F a ll o f S e nio r Y e a r
Research Highlights:
Use of Information Sources
Personal contacts and printed materials are
the most popular sources of information.
The campus visit is the most powerful
recruitment tool at all stages of the search.
Parents are more influential in the college
search than typically seen in the collegebound student marketplace.
Parents’ Influence in Choice of
College/University (2000)
(Very
Influential)
5
4
3.49
3.49
3.34
3.41
3.44
3
2
(Not at All
Influential)
1
Prospects
Inquirers
Parents of
Inquirers
NonMatriculants
Matriculants
Research Highlights:
Use of Information Sources
Most prospective students are using the
Web at all levels of the college search.
Students think of email and chat rooms as
“personal” communications.
Use of Source
100
93.0%
94.9%
80.7%
80
51.8%
60
47.3%
40
20
0
18.9%
7.0%
Printed materials
4.7%
The Internet
Yes
Personal
contacts
No
Personal
communication
via e-mail/chat
rooms
Research Highlights:
2000 and 1986 Comparisons
The CCCU colleges and universities are
somewhat more visible in 2000 than they
were in 1986.
The overall image of the CCCU colleges
and universities has improved slightly in
academic quality.
Quality-of-life issues emerged as the most
positive feature of the CCCU schools in
1986 and in 2000.
Familiarity with Christian Liberal Arts
Colleges and Universities
(1986 vs. 2000)
(Totally 5
Familiar)
4
2.73
3.08
3.34
3.53
3.28
3
2.42
1.79 1.97
2
(Not at All
1
Familiar)
Prospects
Inquirers
1986
Non-Matriculants
2000
Matriculants
Research Highlights:
“Big Picture” Image Issues
Students have a narrower and less positive
view than their parents of a Christian
educational experience.
Christian-related issues affect prospective
students’ decisions throughout the
admissions funnel.
Market’s Definition of a
Christian College or University
The first word or phrase that comes to mind
when prospective students hear “Christian
colleges and universities”:
“Religion” (5%)
“Christian environment” (5%)
“Christian faith” (4%)
“Church” (4%)
Research Highlights:
“Big Picture” Image Issues
The concept of the liberal arts is not wellunderstood by the CCCU market.
Top negatives focus on concerns about
small size and a sheltered, protected
environment.
Research Highlights:
Academic Quality Image Issues
Prospective students and their parents think
about specific majors and future outcomes
when they measure academic quality.
Prospective students tend to assume the
CCCU colleges and universities lack
academic rigor and intellectual freedom.
An all-Christian faculty is less appealing to
prospective students than to their parents.
Research Highlights:
Student Life Image Issues
Prospective students have a “siloed” image
of student life on Christian campuses.
Prospective students are becoming
increasingly interested in:
Personal growth
Development of moral character
Community service
Research Highlights:
Student Life Image Issues
Impressions of social life become more
influential at the enrollment decision stage.
Understanding of the integration of faith and
living as well as faith and learning evolves; it
is not immediately grasped by prospective
students.
Research Highlights:
Financial Issues
Prospective students tend to think about
“sticker price;” parents about net cost.
Perceptions of value are closely linked to
academic quality, preparation for the future,
and character development.
Parents want evidence of the marketability
of the degree and personal growth.
Research Highlights:
Competitive Positioning Issues
Among prospects, top competitors tend to
be public universities.
Among inquirers, there is a shift toward
private universities.
Among accepted students, they hone in on
Christian colleges and universities.
Research Highlights:
Competitive Positioning Issues
Comparative CCCU assets are:
Spiritual growth and spiritual character of
fellow students
Academic quality of students
Overall quality of education
Academic reputation
Preparation for careers
Research Highlights:
Competitive Positioning Issues
Comparative CCCU liabilities are:
Cost
Recreational opportunities
Research Highlights:
Competitive Positioning Issues
Prospect to inquirer conversions are
stimulated by positive impressions of:
Opportunities for spiritual growth
Spiritual characteristics of fellow students
Research Highlights:
Competitive Positioning Issues
Inquirer to accepted student conversions
are stimulated by positive impressions of:
Overall quality of education
Social life
Cost was the only feature of Christian
colleges and universities that was not
perceived more positively by matriculants.
Hallmark Themes for the CCCU
Academic Quality: A high-quality education
in a secular world.
Christian-centered Community: A close-knit,
Christian community that emphasizes
character development and spiritual growth.
Future Orientation: Preparation for life as
well as a living.
Financial Investment: The value proposition.
Academic Quality
Theme: A high-quality education in a secular world.
Introduces the Christian focus
Positions against public and private secular
competitors
Acknowledges concerns about invasion of
voiceless/faceless world
Can convey freedom of intellectual inquiry
Sets foundation for integration of faith and
learning
Christian-centered Community
Theme: A close-knit, Christian community
that emphasizes character development
and spiritual growth.
Highlights character development
Distinguishes spiritual growth opportunities
Enhances appreciation for value
Develops understanding of integration of
faith and living
Future Orientation
Theme: Preparation for life as well as a
living.
Addresses interest in careers
Advances concept of development of
whole person
Provides foundation for moral and spiritual
lifestyle
Raises the bar for definition of success
Financial Investment
Theme: The value proposition.
Create a succinct statement
Fold in essential elements of first three
hallmark statements
Write to parent audience
Connect to cost discussions at all times
Short-term Strategies:
Admissions Marketing
Begin direct marketing efforts to prospective
students early.
Build communications flows based on the first point
of contact, not the calendar.
Develop a parent communications plan.
Offer a service orientation to early inquirers.
Anticipate the composition of the competition set at
each stage of the admissions funnel in developing
strategic communications.
Short-term Strategies:
Admissions Marketing
Be bold in defining the uniqueness of the
Christian experience, but use “cascading”
language.
Monitor the effectiveness of on-campus
visits at all stages of the recruitment cycle.
Increase emphasis on all dimensions of the
social experience, especially at the
acceptance stage.
Short-term Strategies:
Communications/PR
Use the hallmark themes from the research
to develop a distinctive institutional identity.
Prepare a signature statement that both
captures the institutional identity and
supports the CCCU organization.
Develop a definition of academic quality that
best describes the institution.
Short-term Strategies:
Communications/PR
Create a distinctive, multi-dimensional
description of student life at the institution.
Write a value proposition that augments the
signature statement.
Mid-term Strategies:
Admissions Marketing
Collect tangible examples of academic quality from
the community:
Challenge
Student, faculty, and alumni achievements
Positive changes in student profiles
Emphasize faculty commitment to the development
of the whole person.
Present evidence of quality and faculty commitment
at all stages of the recruitment cycle.
Mid-term Strategies:
Admissions Marketing
Demonstrate how students get “real world”
experiences while still enrolled.
Illustrate ways that students work together in
Christian and community service activities.
Mid-term Strategies:
Admissions Marketing
Collect tangible evidence of outcomes.
Talk about value in terms of investment in
preparation for future careers, character
development, and preparation for leading
responsible and fulfilling lives.
Advance families’ understanding of net cost.
Bring new technological systems to the financial aid
process.
Mid-term Strategies:
Communications/PR
Adapt the CCCU hallmark themes to
develop institutional communications that
apply to all key stakeholder audiences.
Choose a consistent institutional “look” to be
used for all constituencies.
Use the CCCU logo to add visibility to the
organization.
Mid-term Strategies:
Communications/PR
Develop messages describing Christian
fellowship on campus and its impact on all
aspects of student life.
Align personal growth with spiritual
development to distinguish the Christian
environment.
Long-term Strategies:
Admissions Marketing
Develop awareness among prospective students
and their parents of the larger community of
Christian colleges and universities.
Continue to develop electronic recruitment vehicles
and strategies.
Seek compatible organizations for hyperlinking
opportunities.
Long-term Strategies:
Communications/PR
Strengthen the bond between the CCCU
and the institution for coordinated promotion
of a Christian education.
Increase the public’s perception of the
overall value of a Christian education.
List long-term, value-added benefits
Link social life and social responsibility
Short-term Strategies:
Campus Team Activities
Develop student and faculty profiles to be
used for various outreach activities.
Advantages of Christian faculty
Portrayal of whole person (students and
faculty)
Develop a unique description of the intimacy
and the atmosphere of the campus
community.
Mid-term Strategies:
Campus Team Activities
Begin re-allocating resources toward the
Web and other electronic communications.
Make careful decisions about which print
media should be continued.
Build a depth-and-breadth Web site for
admissions marketing and for key
audiences.
Long-term Strategies:
Campus Team Activities
Create a distinctive set of messages for
campus-wide communication of the
institution’s approach to the liberal arts.
Develop an ongoing institutional strategy for
communicating the concepts of:
Faith and learning
Faith and living
“We know these things for sure.”
The college search is starting earlier for families.
The use and influence of the Web represents a
major change in market behavior.
Public universities are major competitors of
Christian colleges and universities.
The phrase “liberal arts” is not helpful in clarifying
image or communicating value.
The Christian mission plays a major role in the
college decision-making process.
“We know these things for sure.”
Because of its perceived fragmentation, a Christian
campus experience is an underdeveloped building
block of the Christian identity.
Prospective students have concerns about the
relationship between the Christian influence and
intellectual life.
Academic excellence is intertwined with preparation
for the future.
Parents are more involved in the college search in
the CCCU market.
Perceptions of value are shaped by impressions of
an institution’s ability to offer tangible outcomes and
cultivate character development.