How to Improve Student Access to Higher Education
As the world continues to go further digitally, student access to higher education institutions has never been so available.
What do we mean by ‘student access’ to higher ed?
When we say ‘student access,’ we mean providing anyone with equal opportunity to engage with and apply to your school.
Every prospective student should be able to get a feel for everything your institution has to offer and become familiar with the campus, whether they live just down the street or on the other side of the globe.
Why is enabling student access to higher ed important?
Ensuring that your institution is and remains easily accessible to all prospective students should be at the forefront of your marketing efforts.
As if leaving home for the first time wasn’t enough for prospective students, they’re also leaving their comfort zone behind for a completely new environment. Greater access to what you have to offer helps ease them into that transition.
Moreover, making access to information regarding your school as streamlined as possible allows your institution to be as relevant as possible – even if it’s far from home and friends.
Using technology to drive student access to higher ed
Software as a service (SaaS) solutions are a great way to increase student access to higher ed – as long as they’re built specifically for the sector.
Related: The Higher Education Data You Need to Make Prospective Students Welcome
We created Unibuddy to bolster student access to universities all over the world and help ensure that students have the confidence to make informed decisions without having to do so alone.
How Unibuddy enables student access to higher education
Any student, regardless of location, can use it
As mentioned, access to your institution must be the same to a student down the street as it is to a student halfway across the world – and Unibuddy Community does exactly that.
More than 130 institutions all over the world have taken advantage of Unibuddy’s reach. At Indiana University, students from as far away as India, Korea and Taiwan used Community to get the answers they needed and take advantage of the opportunity to connect before arriving on campus.
There were over 850 messages exchanged in the “Future Hoosiers 2022 – India” group alone! Community allowed them to find their niche, get answers to their questions, and gather any information they needed so they wouldn’t feel lost when they arrived to campus.
Prospective students can get to know current students in a relaxed way
Most prospective students are desperate to hear from current students about what life on campus is really like – and at Unibuddy, we enable them to share! We believe that authentic peer-to-peer interactions are instrumental in the higher education journeys of prospective students.
Related: 5 Student Retention Tips for Higher Education
Community’s group forum-style chats are a great way for prospective students to not only get to know each other, but current students and staff as well.
Of course, candidly being yourself can be intimidating – that’s why we’re rolling out the option for anonymity. To combat anxiety around personal identifiers, students will be able to remain anonymous, which will encourage them to interact in a looser, more relaxed way.
Doing so will keep them engaged while allowing them to share stories and experiences, which will help them find friends and forge deeper connections while preparing for the next steps.
It provides students with community and prepares them for their course of study
Over half of Gen Z students want to connect with others before school begins for several reasons, including the fear of not finding friends.
Related: The Gen Z Journey to Higher Education
Unibuddy Community makes doing so possible. Community’s network of Groups operate as group messages, and are all built around things students have in common, including hobbies, background and interests.
The University of Leicester wanted to find a way to reduce anxiety in their pre-enrolled students. To do so, they implemented Community and created groups focused on everything from student finance to getting ready for university. Their “Life, the universe and everything” group took off almost immediately, growing to nearly 1,000 members.
Increasing access to their incoming peers paid off. The university saw a 23% growth in enrollment and an increase in revenue by more than £6M.
Of course, while finding friends is important for your incoming students, so is being orientated academically. Students can join Groups based on their major and connect with others to form a learning network, which helps them arrive prepared and ready to learn.
It helps instill a sense of belonging
The most important part of increasing access to higher education is providing students with a sense of belonging.
Take St. Olaf College, for instance.
In addition to groups like “Athletics and Active Life at St. Olaf,” they spotlighted group chats like “BIPOC at Olaf” and “LGBTQIA+ at Olaf” to ensure that every student felt that they belonged. If they didn’t see a group that spoke to them, they were welcome to mention it in the “Suggest a group” chat.
Using Unibuddy Community, students can connect with their peers, current students and even staff to forge authentic connections, regardless of location or background. This helps reduce feelings of isolation and loneliness before getting to campus.
To learn more about how Unibuddy Community can work to improve access to your institution, schedule a demo today.
