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Economic Pressure Could Make Their Jobs Tougher, Admissions Experts Say

By BECKIE SUPIANO
Chroncle of Higher Education (requires account)

Seattle — September 25, 2008

A weakened economy may exacerbate the challenges admissions professionals face, experts said here on Thursday. Among other concerns, they said, they expected sticker price to become a bigger concern for more families, and more government oversight as a result.

Those comments came during a discussion sponsored by the marketing company TargetX at Seattle's Central Public Library before the opening later in the day of the National Association for College Admission Counseling national conference.

Economic pressures may bring a cease-fire in the so-called arms race among colleges to offer new facilities and amenities, and force colleges to focus more on what programs they offer, some of the officials attending the discussion said. Or maybe not: "We all lament the Club Med-ing of college campuses, but we all want full-paying students," said Randy Doss, vice president for enrollment services at Guilford College, in North Carolina. "And full-paying students demand these amenities."

But many students don’t pay the full sticker price, and some colleges have become trapped in a cycle of discounting tuition at a rate they can't afford to sustain. Some colleges will either have to plan on enrolling fewer students or else improve prospective students' readiness for college so the overall applicant pool is larger.

More focus among potential students and their families on the cost of attending college may also change the approach of admissions professionals.

"If price is going to become more important, fit is going to be less important, and we’re going to have to be more sales people," said Deana Ison, senior associate director of admissions at Transylvania University, in Kentucky.

The salesperson role of admissions officers, whose job titles may include the term "counselor," or "recruiter," or even "area manager," is a controversial one, but most of the officials in the room acknowledged that they were comfortable using the term "customer" to describe applicants. The faculty members at their colleges, however, are not.

The economic downturn may also reduce families' abilities to make all-important campus visits, the group acknowledged: all the more reason to ramp up their online presence.

About TargetX

Since 1998, TargetX has been higher education's most innovative recruiting company, continually developing new technologies and strategies to help colleges attract today's web-savvy students.  The company is the leading provider of interactive recruiting solutions, helping over 450 schools communicate more effectively with prospective students -- online, in print and in person.

TargetX is also the leading authority on building campus visit experiences and solutions that meet the needs of today's Millennial generation.  And it has recently introduced a revolutionary recruitment management suite that combines a powerful Student Recruitment Manager (SRM), a consumer-friendly student portal for applying online and scheduling campus visits, and the electronic communication tools for which TargetX has become known and respected throughout the industry.

TargetX has developed a reputation in higher education for objective and expert counsel.  The company offers a popular series of workshops and seminars; presents at dozens of conferences around the country; generates three different blogs for admissions officers; and produces the only podcast devoted to student recruiting and college marketing.