Top 7 Student Recruitment Strategies for Higher Ed

Two of the most-asked questions in higher ed are how to create engaging student recruitment strategies and how to recruit more students.

They’re both great questions – without many great answers. 

Reaching potential students can be difficult, especially in an increasingly competitive crowd. When you’re facing global include global competition, changing demographics and chaos in the admissions process, it can even feel impossible.

But it’s not impossible. Here, we’ve cut through the noise to bring you a list of student recruitment strategies used by top universities and colleges from around the world. 

1. Have student ambassadors share their experiences

Prospective students rely on and trust peer-to-peer guidance in their everyday lives – so why wouldn’t they use it in their higher ed journey? 

There’s no better university advocate than a current student. That’s why it’s so important to use student ambassadors as part of your student recruitment and marketing strategy.

When prospective students have the chance to connect with student ambassadors, they receive guidance and feedback that most higher ed recruitment strategies overlook. This allows them to feel like they’re a part of the school they decide to go to.

Connections made through these programs also drive enrollment. When they launched their student ambassador program, the Erasmus School of Economics saw an increase in the likelihood of enrollment among accepted students. In fact, 90% of those who connect with a student ambassador go on to attend!

2. Utilize student-generated content

Like peer-to-peer guidance, user-generated content (UGC) plays an important role in a student’s decision-making and brand recognition. That’s because UGC is known and trusted for its authenticity.

That’s why higher ed institutions use UGC as a way to boost brand trust and engage prospective students. Whether it’s through creating blogs, vlogs or other video content, creating a digital library of UGC allows schools to curate a personalized experience for prospective students.

Related: How User-Generated Content Helps Your Higher Ed Marketing 

Newcastle University’s Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences recently decided to incorporate student-created content into its marketing strategy. Current students contributed nearly 1,000 blog posts, which generated 12,000 unique views from prospective students. This allowed the university to provide them with relevant, authentic information to help them make their decision.

3. Host virtual or hybrid events

We all know that in-person events like Open Days and Applicant Visit Days are the most effective tools for conversion – but have you considered making some of them virtual or both in-person and digital, as hybrid events?

Virtual events are peer-to-peer guidance in action. They foster connection and create a sense of belonging for students while providing reassurance and guidance on their higher education journey. 

While traditional in-person events require most prospective students to travel, virtual or hybrid events allow anyone to take part, regardless of their location. This leads to higher rates of attendance: When the University of Exeter began hosting virtual drop-ins, 8 times as many students attended compared to their in-person events.

Related: Hybrid Events for Higher Ed 

When done correctly, a virtual event can deliver the same impact as an in-person event, with hybrid events enabling you to scale your reach even further. Thanks to their in-depth information and personalized experience, they’re becoming a mainstay on many calendars.

4. Create a sense of belonging

We want prospective students to walk onto our campuses and feel like their dreams have come true. But the reality is that finding the right school is hard, especially when a prospective student doesn’t feel like the schools they’re touring are right for them.

That’s why creating a sense of belonging is a critical piece of any student recruitment strategy – and it has to start in the admissions office.

Be sure to establish an environment that is inclusive, comfortable and welcoming. After a tour or event, follow up with prospective students and offer them access to personalized chat rooms in which they can connect with others. You can even go so far as to design an event that you would have enjoyed during your own search.

5. Be authentic

Students want to apply to schools that remain true to themselves rather than copying or replicating other institutions. So lean into being authentic – authenticity is far more interesting than perfection.

While it seems appropriate to appear perfect, it will only hinder a prospective student from relating and connecting with your institution. Instead, share the quirky traditions that faculty and staff alike love. If there isn’t one, create it!

Being authentic requires vulnerability, transparency and integrity. When you lead with authenticity, your students will follow.

6. Leverage Digital Marketing and Social Media

Higher education institutions should utilize social media platforms, email marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising to promote their programs and reach potential students. Authentic storytelling, engaging content, and student testimonials can be very impactful. 

Staying on top of trends, and keeping up to date on which social media platforms your audience use and how best to engage them is a tough challenge for most higher ed professionals. That’s why a tool like Unibuddy Community helps you connect with prospective students while also taking some of the workload off your plate. With 60% of online undergraduate students and 75% of graduate students using social media to research programs, engaging them on social media is critical. Unibuddy Community lets student ambassadors take charge in connecting with your prospective students, offering valuable insights and authentic interactions to assure new students that they are welcome and supported in their academic journey.

Unibuddy has access to a wide range of student trends from data, and can help inform what your next digital marketing steps can be, where you might be losing prospective students’ interest and what’s currently working well. For a student to complete their journey through the cycle of considering, applying, and accepting, they need some reassurance along the way, and with 92% of Gen Z reporting that it was helpful to connect with a peer, the trend is hard to ignore. Though taking a step back and letting student ambassadors run the show might be difficult, this has worked to reduce student anxieties before they start their first day in class.

Online students heavily rely on digital marketing across various channels when researching programs. Facebook and YouTube are the most prominent platforms, while Instagram, despite its vast user base, is less frequently mentioned. LinkedIn, though smaller, competes well. Age plays a role, with younger students less inclined towards Facebook and those above 50 less dependent on social media.

7. Focus on Career Outcomes

Prospective students and their families are increasingly concerned about the return on investment from a college education. Highlight successful alumni, strong job placement rates, and specific career paths that graduates can pursue. Develop relationships with local businesses for internships and job placements, which can be featured during the recruitment process.

It’s important for prospective students to have assurance that their education will open the doors that they’re looking for. The idea that a student could study for years, graduate, and end up not meaningfully employed through their higher education experience is a huge deterrent that contributes to melt and low retention. The statistics that you can pull to share on alumni working in their chosen field doesn’t give a full picture for Gen Z, and may not fully address their fears or give them an idea of how to get to their career goals.

Connecting prospective students with the right student ambassadors can ease students’ anxieties, and help students feel empowered and hopeful, which is the best outcome. Consider a prospective architecture student, wondering about the job market they’re going to graduate into. Talking with a current architecture student, they may learn of the summer job opportunities, conferences, networking events, and clubs as they get a headstart on making important social connections for later. They may also learn that a particular company likes to hire from your school, as evidenced by the job offered to your student ambassador. With information like that, and some certainty that the experience (and cost) will be worthwhile, a prospective student may have more confidence in attending your high education institution.

Getting to this stage means encouraging current students to become ambassadors, and training them so they are prepared for the job. In exchange, they get valuable experience, new network connections, and access to more resources. The right ambassadors can make a big difference in your recruitment and enrollment cycles.

Final thoughts

Implementing student recruitment strategies that enhance the student experience is becoming more necessary as higher ed continues to go digital. You’ll see the payoffs – higher enrollment, more connection and more interest – almost immediately.

Did you know that Unibuddy can power all of these strategies and more? Book a demo to see how the Unibuddy platform can help you gain a competitive edge with your higher education student recruitment.