Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Students find many college choices.
Universities, colleges help students find best fit
The area’s main institutions of higher education are different enough so there’s more collaboration than competition recruiting high school graduates, school officials said.
It’s more about helping students find the right fit for them, said representatives from Northwest Arkansas Community College, John Brown University and the University of Arkansas.
The two-year community college often plays a role in helping students save money during their first years of college or preparing them academically for a four-year institution, while John Brown is a private, Christian institution and provides a different experience than the much larger UA, school officials said.
Each school said it places an emphasis on recruiting students from Arkansas. While many of the methods are similar, each has its own challenges. Students are also influenced by high school counselors, whom recruiters work closely with to make sure they have the information they need.
RECRUITING LOCALLY
All of the colleges draw many students from the region.
Northwest Arkansas Community College pulled 94 percent of its 7,715 students in the 2017 fall semester from Arkansas; 54 percent from Benton County, 36 percent from Washington County and 4 percent from other Arkansas counties.
UA’s state residents made up 55 percent of the 27,558-member student body and about 40 percent of JBU’s 1,379 student body is from Arkansas.
All three schools rely on traditional recruiting methods such as college fairs, visiting high schools and holding events for high school students, parents and school counselors.
Campus visits are one of the most successful tools in helping a student decide if a school is right for them, officials said. Visits help students visualize what it would be like to attend a school and allow them to meet with faculty, staff and students.
“The visit is huge,” said Hannah Bradford, director of admissions at John Brown. “If the student doesn’t visit, they (likely) won’t come.”
Getting prospective students to visit is a main recruitment
strategy for the University of Arkansas, said Suzanne McCray, vice provost for enrollment. Often times, local students think they know the campus after attending a game or other event, she said. A campus visit gives them a comprehensive experience of what the school has to offer, she said.
“If we get them to campus, we think they’ll want to come here,” she said.
CHANGES
Traditional recruitment methods still play important roles, but the use of websites and social media platforms have become increasingly vital as technology is an integral aspect of universities’ prospective students, officials said.
John Brown has a steady increase in what university officials call “stealth apps,” or applicants who have no formal interaction with the school until they apply, Bradford said. They do their own research, largely relying on the school’s website.
“They’ve just been flying under the radar until they apply,” she said. “That’s interesting. How do you reach out to students you don’t even know about?”
The answer is to have a good web and digital presence. Nearly 88 percent of colleges and universities who responded to a National Association for College Admissions and Counseling survey said their website was of “considerable importance” in a recruitment strategy.
Email and hosting campus visits were the second and third most important tools, according to the report.
JBU receives about 1,400 applications each year, and about 50 percent are the first connection with the university. It allows prospective students and parents to drive the process rather than feel like they’re being sold something, Bradford said.
Stealth applicants also account for a large portion of University of Arkansas applicants, McCray said. They are often students who have known they’ve wanted to attend the university for a long time, possibly because family members are alumni.
UA officials are using social media because younger generations prefer to get information from it, McCray said.
“We have to keep pretty hip on the social media because Facebook sort of wanes, then Twitter takes a rise in popularity or Instagram is the way they want to communicate,” she said, adding Pinterest is out of favor and Tumblr is no longer a thing. “We have to keep that fresh. We have to understand where they are and how they’re communicating.”
Direct mailings are a traditional recruitment tool that still have marketing power, according to Alice Haney, Bentonville High School post-secondary adviser.
There are more than 4,000 higher education institutions in the country, and many students will become interested in a school they never heard of prior to receiving a direct mailer from them, Haney said.
UA still used mailers because parents want them and high school counselors display the booklets, McCray said.
Students typically start receiving mail from colleges and universities after taking the ACT or PSAT college entrance exams. Institutions buy information from test registrations, officials said.
Of the Bentonville High School 2017 class, 83 percent pursued some form of post-secondary education, according to Haney. Of that, 70 percent attended schools in Arkansas, and the other 13 percent dispersed to schools in 35 states.
The majority go to the University of Arkansas or Northwest Arkansas Community College, she said.
CHALLENGES
The community college is evaluating its recruitment plan, looking to redesign its approach as its full-time recruiter moved to another job at the college, said Justin White, executive director of enrollment management.
The college plans to fill the position, but, until then, recruitment is focused on building strong connections with students, he said.
“We’re looking at the students that we have made initial contact with or who have shown interest in NWACC and then really case-managing those students so we build a robust relationship with them from the first point of contact through enrollment,” White said.
Admissions and enrollment staff have taken on recruiting duties. It’s actually been a benefit, said Beverly Grau, director of the enrollment support center.
The nine-member team is diverse in gender, age and ethnicity, allowing them to reach a larger demographic of potential students than just one person would, she said.
“Just because we don’t have a full- time recruiter doesn’t mean that we’re not recruiting,” White said. “We’re all recruiters.”
One of JBU’s biggest challenges is breaking down stereotypes, Bradford said. Some prospective students think the school is too expensive or too conservative, she said.
About 39 percent of students come from families making less than $60,000 a year, and about 37 percent come from households making more than $100,000, according to university numbers.
The 2017- 18 tuition is $26,144 without room and board. Total cost with room and board is $35,184.
Ninety percent of full-time students received some kind of financial aid last year, with $14 million awarded in scholarships and grants, according to the university’s website.
“Once financial aid comes through, they have a really amazing, very affordable education,” Bradford said. “Just because of the sticker shock and the stereotype associated with the private college, most people would not even start the process or apply.”
It’s not a requirement students be Christian to attend, but all student must meet certain requirements such as taking Bible courses and attending a certain amount of chapel services, Bradford said.
HIGH SCHOOL HELP
While recruiters focus on reaching students, area high schools help students navigate the college application process by offering group programs on various topics, one-on-one career counseling and maintaining small resource libraries.
Rogers Public Schools created Rogers Honors Academy in 2016 to inform students about their options and prepare them to be competitive, said Carla Fontaine, academy director.
Students have to maintain a certain grade-point average and take a number of pre-advanced placement, advanced placement or college-level courses to be an academy member.
Part of the academy’s mission is to help high-achieving students consider some of the country’s best colleges and universities, but it also makes sure students know about honors colleges and programs at local universities, Fontaine said.
“At the end of the day, it’s really about the best fit for the student,” she said.
The first 200 students in the academy are high school juniors.