Review your college/department/program information, websites, and social media platforms:
- Information about your programs and potential grad faculty mentors should be easy to find, informative, and attractive to your target audience. (e.g., Millennials, GenZers, Working Professionals/Online Learners).
- Things that matter most to today’s students are educational costs and degree value. Your website should reflect these factors:
- Include tuition costs, cost of living and financial aid information. Click for current tuition information, financial aid, and funding for graduate students. Keep in mind that international prospects will have different needs and travel requirements. Include links to International Student Life (ISL) for helpful information.
- The Graduate School offers programming for historically underrepresented prospective students. Information is available here. Consider adding this link to your website.
- Communicate the value of your program degree(s): What can they do with it? What salaries can they expect? Include average time to degree and postgraduate placement stats. Are you tracking your alumni? If not, it’s time to start!
- Provide real life perspectives. Include stories from current students, recent graduates, and alumni that communicate their experiences.
Post a recruitment video on your website and social media platforms. Show departmental/student workspaces (labs, student spaces, studios, etc.). Include story videos from students and faculty; consider having a student blog about ‘A Day in the Life.’
Add a FAQ section to your website.
Capture visitors (prospects) to your graduate program website by embedding the Graduate School Request for Information (RFI) and Apply Now buttons on your graduate program webpages.
Not sure how applicants heard about your program? Review their responses in GradSlate recruit and retain tab.
Review and optimize your social media presence. Consider partnering with marketing teams to improve your presence in search engines (search engine optimization). Social media strategy should align with recruitment phase and include campaigns highlighting success stories, addressing concerns of support and cost benefit; “Why Graduate Education?”
