Redefining Success: The Value of Higher Education
With college graduation season behind us, the promise of higher education takes center stage. For new graduates who have entry-level jobs or graduate school placements, the investment feels immediately worthwhile. For many others, anxiety can take hold — especially in a tough labor market.
While landing a job is the big payoff of attending college, it’s important to remember that gainful employment is not the only payoff. The way your institution frames the full value of higher education affects a student’s (and their family’s) satisfaction throughout their experience. It also is an avenue by which you can better differentiate your school.
Why attend higher education?
The value of post-secondary education is usually defined by job prospects, salary, and long-term earnings potential. Those are certainly the primary concerns and considerations when weighed against the short-term (and often significant) investment.
But there are additional benefits to post-secondary education that should be considered. The most important questions for prospective students and their families are
- What are your goals in pursuing post-secondary education?
- What school and what program will help you reach those goals?
Taking a more expansive view, specific goals for discussion include
- preparation for employment in a specific profession
- intellectual growth and exposure to new ideas and different people
- acceptance into a specific graduate program
- discovery of passions and opportunities
- growth opportunities in civic engagement and leadership
- learning to live independently
- maintaining personal wellbeing
Employment outcomes matter greatly, of course, but education at its best prepares students for more than their first job — it prepares them for a lifetime of growth and change. Goal-directed dialogue helps students and families understand why a particular school or program is the right fit. It also helps them identify how they’ll measure success at graduation.
Changing the conversation
Helping students articulate their goals broadens the conversation from “What job will I get?” to “What kind of learner and person do I hope to become?”
As a higher education marketer, you can make such goal-setting discussions more helpful and explicit by framing the value offered by your institution in the most expansive and compelling way possible.
- Explore creative ways to present a picture of a student’s future self at your school and beyond.
- Reduce ambiguity and uncertainty among students and families by using step-by-step road maps and milestones to detail specific programs and employment pathways.
- Showcase personal growth opportunities through effective storytelling on your website, social properties, and earned media.
- Feature students, faculty, and staff from diverse backgrounds, beliefs, and identities, fostering a sense of community and belonging for all students.
- Showcase the campus environment and highlights of the surrounding geographic area and local culture.
- Provide specific talking points students and families can use daily to explain why they chose your school and program.
- Host online and in-person discussions about setting goals for higher education.
Conclusion
How you define the value of an education at your school will help students and families define their specific vision and criteria for success. It will also help you differentiate your school.
Further, what students learn during this experience can help them identify their goals for employment and life beyond higher education.
Contact us to discuss how your messaging and marketing can give students and families more reasons to select your school.
