Uncover Unique Opportunities to Differentiate Your School
At last month’s Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE) annual summit in Washington, D.C., colleges and universities from across the U.S. showed up in force — and with good reason. When selecting a school, campus dining safety accommodations are one of the top decision-making factors for students with food allergies (and for their anxious, highly involved parents). An interesting side note: The FARE summit even included a college fair.
As regular undergraduate application deadlines near, it’s a timely reminder for you to look beyond your institution’s traditional differentiators and marketing messages. Rankings, academic programs, residence halls, internships, and athletic facilities are still relevant, but they no longer tell the full story.
Today’s newer higher education differentiators are those that reduce anxiety, build emotional connection, and strengthen students’ sense of belonging. Schools that demonstrate real care through their student services, accommodations, and health supports earn trust and win enrollments. Here are some examples.
Branded student supports
Many higher education institutions brand their student support and health-and-wellness programs, and reposition mental health as part of academic success. One example in our portfolio is the Doing Well initiative at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, featuring information resources, events, wellness programs, and an on-campus Wellbeing Lab. The program is well defined and also inclusive, allowing for myriad student groups to align their activities under this banner.
From ADA compliance to differentiator
As with the push to cater to food allergies, colleges and universities are leveraging their ADA accommodations as differentiators. This is particularly true around neurodiversity and accessibility. Featured programs may include specialized dorms or affinity communities for neurodiverse students, executive function skill-building programs, and overtly parent-facing messaging that reduces anxiety.
Our web design for Empire State University embodies the school’s focus on inclusion and has set a new standard for UX for neurodiverse students. As the first and only college designated as an Autism Supportive College, they’ve long prioritized support for nontraditional learners. To reflect that mission online, they partnered with our iFactory team to build a website to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible.
Examples outside our portfolio include Landmark College, “a community designed exclusively for students who learn differently.” The school champions “a strengths-based model for education, giving students the skills and strategies they need to succeed in life.”
The University of Arizona SALT Center, for students with mild to moderate learning differences, claims to be “recognized world-wide as one of the most successful for promoting student achievement in the university setting.” The program’s participation fees give students access to highly customized and comprehensive services and supports.
Experiential learning and life design
Some schools have taken their promise to cultivate identity formation and career direction to an entirely new level. Stanford University, a better-known example, has leveraged its credibility in innovation by branding and promoting the Stanford Life Design Lab, which applies design thinking to tackling the “problems of life and vocational wayfinding.” Further, the Lab has expanded the program and shares its methodology and content with other colleges and universities (e.g. College of Charleston).
Perhaps representing the vanguard of this differentiation strategy, Northeastern University established itself as “the leader in global experiential learning” long ago. Their signature co-operative education (“co-op”) model, in which students alternate academic study and full-time employment, is a value proposition that has grown significantly in relevance and importance to students and their parents.
Prospect knowledge and targeting
Among the fruitful benefits of pursuing this type of narrow differentiation strategy is the identification of highly targetable audience segments and opportunities to engage, especially through digital media and channels. You can strategically build specific campaigns and web properties dedicated to programs and prospects.
What are your school’s unique differences?
As you approach regular decision deadlines and begin shaping your yield strategy, think about what prospective students and parents value most. Look for opportunities to elevate the programs, services, and aspects of the student experience that set your institution apart. When you highlight these strengths alongside your traditional higher ed marketing messages, you introduce compelling differentiators that tip the scales for mainstream applicants and resonate with niche prospects.
