Campus Visit Resource Center

Prospective students’ minds may seem like black boxes, but there is clear evidence that a few core factors matter when they make a final decision. Campus environment is the top factor that determines whether a student feels the school is the “right fit” and can only be experienced by visiting the campus. Academic reputation and cost of attendance are the next two concerns students have, and they can be addressed by thoughtful institutional messaging during visit, but should not be the main focus.

Top reasons students choose another institution:

• Campus environment
• Academic reputation
• Cost of attendance

It also matters what visitors are saying about campus visits themselves. In an analysis of 77 online discussion comments about good and bad campus visits, we uncovered some of the common drivers for enjoying—and not enjoying—a campus visit. In order of importance:

Reasons students disliked a campus visit

• Bad or ineffective tour guide
• Campus facilities issues
• Poor staff or faculty interaction
• Unwelcoming campus environment or culture

Reasons students liked a campus visit

• Welcoming campus environment or culture
• Good, personable tour guide
• Liked the location of the school
• Great campus facilities and amenities

The school also needs to “feel right.” One often overlooked factor is that students need to be able to see themselves on campus—the experience of visiting needs to inspire them to picture a future there.

Download the School Selection Fact Sheet

There are certainly merits to getting students on your campus as early as possible—increased brand awareness and creating a regional pipeline of students chief among them—but when it comes down to post-decision analysis, it is clear that visiting a campus later in the decision-making process is ultimately more beneficial to the student and a better indicator of a student’s likelihood to yield.

The later students are in their high school careers, the more likely they are to view the campus visit as a helpful source of information.

Something to watch: In single-institution analyses, there is even evidence that of the seniors who visit, those who come closer to deposit day yield at a higher rate.

EAB campus visit timing recommendations:

• Begin to consistently invite students to visit when they are rising juniors, and continue this message for the rest of the time they remain in your funnel.
• Focus your strongest efforts on those students who report getting the most use out of a visit—your junior and senior prospects.
• Study your own yield rates for visitors and determine if visits later in the cycle (i.e., between January 1 and May 1) yield at higher rates than earlier visits. If this anecdotal trend is present on your campus, your visit invitation strategy should reflect this.

Download the Visit Timing Fact Sheet

The essential model

This model is the starting point for any talk about innovating on-campus visits. It is the most prolific, with 84% of schools’ general visits starting with an information session and then transitioning into a campus visit, or vice versa.

What this model does well:

• Touches on the core visitor expectations
• Provides a reliable framework for visit

Drawbacks of this model:

• Difficult to differentiate between schools
• Commits visitors to two long activities

The modified essential model

This model starts rethinks tour structure by starting with a tour with a certain team, transitioning to an information session, and ending with a tour with a different theme. Instead of a traditional information session, there are rotating small group discussion panels that cover topics like student life, financial aid, and how to apply.

What this model does well:

• Breaks up the monotony of info sessions
• Innovates on the standard visit model

Drawbacks of this model:

• Creates more timing and logistics for staff
• Requires more staff to host tours or panels

A conference-style model

This model offers several information sessions, campus tours, and special sessions throughout today so that visitors can pick and choose what they attend and when.

What this model does well:

• Provides a way to mass-customize visits
• Still incorporates the essential elements

Drawbacks of this model:

• Suited for large visits/events (i.e., open houses)
• Requires significantly more scheduling

A completely personalized model

This model involves arranging an individualized itinerary for each student based on their specific interests.

What this model does well:

• Fully personalizes the campus visit experience
• Provides only the elements the prospect wants

Drawbacks of this model:

• Resource-intensive from scheduling to day of
• More realistic for lower volumes of visitors

Download the Visit Models Fact Sheet

Increasingly, institutions are creating unique offerings based on the groups that are not well-served by their basic tour days. If that group is large enough, create a tailored program that will bring those students to your campus in the fall. If you find it difficult to identify groups, current students can weigh in on the particular challenges they may have faced in enrolling as members of these various groups, so use your student team’s experiences to help inform new programs.

If standard hours don’t work…

Sunset Tours can show off the campus in a literal new light. Plus, these tours are offered later in the day, opening campus to visitors who can’t come during normal hours (such as those who work or would have to make a long journey to attend a morning tour).

If you have specialized groups…

Dedicated info days such as Homeschool Day or First-Generation Student Day can build on the logic of classic days such as Transfer Days. Recruit attendees by sharing with relevant community groups. If identifying special groups is hard, ask current students for recommendations.

If you can offer constructive sessions for the community…

Create workshop events to get students on campus to achieve other goals and let them visit as a side benefit rather than a main attraction. College planning days and portfolio workshops are popular. Students value hearing directly from you, and these events help win over parents.

If there are language barriers…

In markets where student or their parents are not comfortable learning about the university in English, there has been a push to offer language days to support these communities. These work best if staff and students are not only fluent but also culturally aware of different needs.

If international prospects are hard to reach…

Engaging groups of students can happen off campus entirely. For international students, engaging through their main apps—such as WeChat sessions for Chinese students or WhatsApp sessions with Latin American students—can help bridge the distance and meet their needs.

If you have yield loss points…

Create days that recapture the interest of prospective students before they melt. Depending on the point in the enrollment funnel that you have challenges, these could be anything from early application decision days in late fall to activity-themed summer orientation events.

Download the Niche Groups Fact Sheet

As strategic enrollment goals continue to push for increased diversity of many kinds—high-achieving, first-generation, underrepresented demographics, international—many enrollment managers find it challenging to get these interest groups onto the campus itself. Addressing the cost or travel barriers requires careful design because the best practices require dedication of resources in order to make noticeable impacts in enrollment.

There are two strategies for increasing campus visit access:

1. Fund their travel
   • Campus visit stipends:
     • Dedicate a set amount of money to pay toward a student’s visit, usually once they have been accepted.
     • These can be tied to an application process or a special student status, but usually they are broadly offered.
   • Strategic visit programs:
     • Engage a target group by creating a financial incentive (low cost or free travel) to visit campus.
     • Dedicate travel funds to students who would otherwise not be able to visit.
2. Engage virtually
   • Virtual tours:
     • Most schools have virtual tours online, so it is quickly becoming an expectation in the market.
     • The easiest-to-implement solution is to hire a vendor, though this means most virtual tours look alike.
   • Live-cast events:
     • Online events leveraging social media offer much greater convenience and facilitate interaction and discussion.
     • The large reach of internet events and the ability to quickly follow emerging trends in questions are unparalleled.

Download the Niche Groups Fact Sheet

For many prospects and their families, your campus pages and visit registration system are the first real interaction they have with your institution. This means the look, feel, and usability of your pages set the tone for the rest of their relationship with the institution. Visitors to your website will also subconsciously compare the visit scheduling experience to their other online transactions and registrations, meaning you should pay attention to current norms outside of higher education:

• Eventbrite offers a seamless, one-click way to add events to calendars from confirmation emails
• Retailers such as Amazon send nearly instant confirmation emails after any transaction takes place
• Airlines and travel companies send confirmation accompanied with “things nearby” info for travelers

Make sure that the campus visit registration experience is smooth by self-assessing your own registration experience. This audit is intended to help focus attention on important areas for improvement and should be considered an indicator of patterns rather than a definitive score. You will work through this audit to create an improvement opportunity score; the higher the score, the greater the opportunity is for making strategic changes to that area.

Download the Registration Self-Assessment