NEWS RELEASE - 08/9/2005

THE E-SAVVY CLASS OF 2006:
NEW SURVEY REVEALS THE FRONTIER OF COLLEGE RECRUITING IN THE ELECTRONIC AGE

Is Instant Messaging the Key to Reaching Prospective Students?

Despite Overwhelming Willingness to Communicate with Campus Personnel via IM, Most Had Not.

IOWA CITY, Iowa, Aug. 9, 2005 – Noel-Levitz, the leading higher education consulting firm in North America, James Tower, a recruiting communications firm, and the National Research Center for College & University Admissions (NRCCUA), a non-profit education research organization, today announced the results of a new report that reveals insight into interacting with college-bound students in the E-age. “Navigating Toward Enrollment,” a 2005 survey of 1,000 high school juniors, exposes new ways for colleges and universities to effectively communicate with prospective students using the technology they prefer.

“The use of the Web as the primary tool for prospective students to search colleges is perhaps the most significant change in our business in recent history,” said Richard Eastop, vice president for enrollment services emeritus, The University of Toledo. “Therefore, having this data provides us with clear answers to the questions we need and have been asking for years about student’s preferences for Web site content and functionality. This study also shows us the online services we need to add in order to be competitive.”

Eighty percent of students surveyed are online once per week or more, and roughly half (49 percent) say they are online everyday. Students primarily are using the Web for research: 91 percent report using the Web to research school assignments and 74 percent report researching colleges and universities.

Nearly three quarters (72 percent) of students surveyed say they had used college Web sites. Among them, 72 percent had submitted an inquiry form and half had completed an online survey on a college Web site. However, when asked what activities they would like to do on a college Web site, the results centered on cost and financial aid, with 90 percent wanting to use a financial aid estimator and 88 percent wanting to use a tuition calculator. This focus on financial information was consistent when students were asked to rate the value of information on college Web sites on a scale of one (not at all valuable) to five (extremely valuable). According to the responses, the most valuable information is on scholarships (4.63), followed by tuition and fees (4.61), academic programs and majors (4.53) and financial aid (4.48).

The survey results show that schools should focus their Web efforts on providing comprehensive content in an easy-to-find and visually pleasing manner. Sixty-one percent agree that college sites should not be flashy, but should have a lot of great content, as opposed to using technology and animation. Seventy-three percent of respondents agree that it is important to find what they are looking for within a few clicks from the home page.

Consistent with the type of information they are interested in obtaining, students are more interested in communicating with admissions counselors (53 percent) and financial aid counselors (53 percent) than with faculty (40 percent) or current students (46 percent). Forty percent of students say that the time to interact with campus personnel is before applying.

The survey reveals an openness from students to hear directly from school administrators. Despite 81 percent of respondents reporting that they use personal instant messaging, only 6 percent of students say that they have exchanged an instant message with a college administrator, suggesting that colleges are overlooking a popular communication tool. Seventy-three percent of students say they would be receptive to receiving an instant message from a college.

In addition, students are open to hearing from colleges and universities via telephone. Seventy percent of respondents say they would be willing to receive a call from a college at home. However, it is important to note that high school students are relying more on personal cell phones: 67 percent of respondents report owning a cell phone. Fifty-eight person of cell-phone-owning respondents would be open to receiving a call from a school administrator on their cell phones, while 56 percent would be receptive to receiving a text message.

The findings were announced at Noel-Levitz’s National Conference on Student Recruitment, Marketing and Retention, being held last week in Washington, D.C. For a copy of the report, visit www.noellevitz.com.

About Noel-Levitz
Noel-Levitz is a nationally recognized consulting firm specializing in higher education student recruitment, financial aid, student retention, market research, publications and Web development. Since 1973, Noel-Levitz has partnered with more than 1,700 colleges and universities throughout North America. Noel-Levitz has offices in Denver, Iowa City and Guelph, Ontario, and is a division of SLM Corporation, commonly known as Sallie Mae. For more information, please visit: http://www.noellevitz.com.

About James Tower
James Tower provides an unparalleled range of recruitment communications services to enrollment professionals at colleges and universities across the country. These services reach prospective students in a personalized and meaningful way, creating a strong sense of human connection. Among the services are AdmissionsGenieÒ Web sites, targeted e-mail campaigns, DVDs, virtual tours, and publications. James Tower is a technology and communication solutions company located in North Mankato, Minn.

About NRCCUA
NRCCUA has been building educational bridges between college-bound high school students, high school counselors and college admissions officers for more than 33 years. Through our annual surveys, we gather information on student attitudes and educational plans from more than 5.5 million students in over 20,000 public and private high schools nationally. The survey is voluntary and students participate at no cost. This valuable research is published and distributed to more than 1,000 member colleges and universities so they can better identify high school students who meet their institutions’ admission profiles. In addition to hearing from colleges and universities, students may also hear from non-profit and for-profit organizations offering educational opportunities such as college admissions services, financial aid, career information, extracurricular enrichment and recognition programs.