Leading with Career Development to Attract Prospective College Students
Three imperatives of a career-first enrollment strategy
Afia Tasneem, Senior Director, Strategic Research
As the coronavirus pandemic threatens to leave a deep, long-lasting recession in its wake, prospective students and families are rethinking their college choices. Is a four-year college degree still worth investing their savings or taking on debt in an uncertain economy? Would it be more prudent to attend a less-expensive, more career-focused college?
In this “new normal,” it is no longer sufficient for institutions to highlight career support as an auxiliary service for continuing students. Institutions must showcase their essential role in the three core stages of a student’s career development journey—career discovery, skill development, and employer networking—to prospective students and families. This white paper shares practices that can help institutions attract career-minded prospects to their campuses.
Introduction: The present state of career-focused college shopping
The rise of return-on-education (ROE) skepticism
Today’s universities are facing increased criticism for underserving students when it comes to career readiness. The media, the general population, hiring managers, and even their own graduates claim that college does not adequately prepare students for the workforce. This is making prospective students and families skeptical about whether college is worth it or the right fit for them.
Higher ed under fire for under preparing students for the workforce
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66%
Of college students in 2018 were skeptical that they would graduate with the know-how to succeed in the job market
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50%
Of 2018 college graduates reported that they did not gain the critical skills needed to transition into the workforce—such as complex problem solving, resume writing, workplace technologies, and interview skills
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75%
Of hiring managers in 2018 thought that recent college graduates were ill-equipped to advance their careers
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80%
Of U.S. workers in 2020 say that the education system has failed to evolve to meet the needs of the workforce
"“I think college is basically for fun…and not for learning. I don’t consider going to college evidence of exceptional ability. In fact, ideally you dropped out.”
"Elon Musk
Chief Executive Officer, Tesla Inc
Many prospects skeptical about the value of college
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56%
Of high school teenagers say that a high school diploma is sufficient for a “good job”
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60%
Of parents believe an internship at Google is more valuable than a Harvard degree
No longer shopping blind
With the rise in concerns about career outcomes, it’s not surprising that tools to measure return on education have swept the marketplace. Prior to 2010, prospective students lacked information about differences in post-graduate earnings from different institutions. Today, salary outcomes are freely and widely available through a wealth of “college payoff” tools from various think tanks, NGOs, private corporations, and state and federal governments.
Despite the intuitive appeal of such ROE measurement tools, they often contain flawed or misleading data, and are plagued by methodological shortcomings. These inaccuracies make it critical for institutions to reclaim their own story about the ROI on their degrees and correct any career-related misperceptions that prospects may have about their institutions.
ROE measurement tools plagued by methodological shortcomings
- Limited sample sizes:Â Many rankings use self-reported salaries or only consider students who received financial aid
- Skew from grad school placement:Â Lack of immediate earnings of students who go to graduate school directly after college draw down averages
- Focus on early career salary:Â Professional degrees confer immediate salary benefits, but liberal arts graduates see greater lifetime salary growth
- Bias toward STEM:Â Lack of adjustment for program mix disadvantages institutions that emphasize lower-pay pursuits with high societal value, including social services, education, and volunteer work
Career concerns exacerbated by looming recession
Prospective students are concerned about the financial impact of COVID-19 on their families—and their futures. Faced with a sudden economic downturn, and a lot of uncertainty, we anticipate that they will be more conservative in their spending for college—reluctant to invest their savings or take on what they deem to be excessive debt for college. Thus, they’re thinking hard about their college options. Should they attend a community college instead of a four-year school, stay closer to home, or opt for a less expensive alternative than what they’d been considering? Will the economic downturn resolve in time for them to find jobs post-graduation?
If the recession persists, students will also have reason to worry about lifetime earnings and their ability to pay off college debt. Research from the 2008 recession shows that the harmful impact of a protracted recession on graduate outcomes can be especially enduring. Dr. Lisa Kahn, Associate Professor of Economics at Yale University, estimated that even 17 years post-college, recession-period graduates earn approximately 10% less than graduates who completed when the economy was strong. This earnings deficit experienced by “the lost classes” of the last recession is likely to add to the increased skepticism among students and parents about the ROI of a college degree.
Imperative #1: Engage prospects in personalized career discovery
Web-based interactive career tool
To highlight ROI, most institutions provide information about job placement rates and average starting salaries of graduates on their websites. But these static figures and charts often fail to grab the attention of prospects as they’ve become increasingly status quo. Institutions can differentiate themselves and engage prospective students more effectively by providing interactive career discovery tools on their websites.
Montgomery College’s EMSI Career Coach service leads prospective students through a personalized career exploration exercise, and then maps the results to the institution’s programs of study, allowing Montgomery to organically become part of their prospects’ career plans.
Students start their engagement with Career Coach by taking a career assessment survey. They can either take a “quick-start” assessment with six questions or a detailed survey of 60 questions about their personal interests. The Career Coach then suggests a range of possible career paths that would best fit their traits and preferences.
If prospects already have a few career options in mind, they can skip the career assessment tool altogether and use the “Browse Careers” option. This allows them to compare information about median wages and the educational degree(s) required for entry-level positions for different careers. Students can then investigate the programs at Montgomery that will prepare them for those preferred career paths.
Proactive personalized career advising
While pre-application career discovery tools can help institutions build connections with prospects, institutions should pair those guided explorations with personalized consultations with advisers as early as possible. Universities can equip advisers with the results from the EMSI Career Coach Tool or a similar in-house pre-application survey so that they can have more meaningful career-mapping conversations with students during orientation. The advisers can help students assess their majors and direct them to specific curricular and co-curricular opportunities that best fit their interests and career ambitions—helping them see, concretely, how the institution will impact their career development and trajectory.
Imperative #2: Demonstrate college-to-career alignment
Integrated career and academic journey map
Career services are often treated as auxiliary, disconnected from academic curriculum and advising, and with limited reach and resources. At the same time, many faculty members struggle to connect their curriculum to students’ non-academic career ambitions. The lack of alignment between academic programs and career services makes it challenging for recruiters to convince prospects of their institutional commitment to career development. Prospects are often left skeptical that they will receive adequate career support throughout their four years in college.
To recruit career-minded prospects, institutions must paint a compelling vision for the four-year career development journey that students will embark on once they enroll. To that end, in 2019 the University of Cincinnati (UC) rolled out their Bearcat Promise, an enormous effort to provide integrated career and academic development to all students from orientation to graduation.
A branded program (i.e. with a name and a website landing page dedicated to the program) and a comprehensive career journey map helps UC communicate to prospects about the granular, paced career development guidance that they will receive throughout college, reinforcing the career relevance of everything they will do while on campus.
As part of the program, UC faculty and staff have incorporated career learning outcomes to all 340 majors and have identified key milestones that students must achieve throughout college.
Guaranteed internship funding
Despite knowing the benefits of accessing career initiatives during college, such as internships and externships, many students still face major financial barriers in pursuing them. 40% of employers only provide unpaid internships, and there are additional costs—such as clothing and transportation—that exacerbate how inaccessible they feel to certain segments of students. While many universities step in to offer internship funding, most students aren’t aware of its availability, or feel unsure about whether they’ll qualify. Finding internships during a pandemic-triggered economic downturn will be hard enough; institutions can differentiate themselves by leveling the playing field for funding, making it easier for universities to promote their institution to prospective students and families.
Wheaton College signals their commitment to career development by promising every prospective student a pot of internship funding if they enroll. This universal, guaranteed funding for internships is highlighted in their financial aid package and even in their first email communication to prospects. Frontloading this clear, simple guarantee sends a powerful message to prospective students that career support is a top priority for Wheaton.
Imperative #3: Provide industry-specific experiential learning opportunities
Corporate mentor-guided recruitment drives
Today’s students are well-aware of the value of networking. Stories about jobs secured through personal connections abound. Prospects are aware that an excellent education is not enough—they need support from the right people at the right time. They wonder: Where does college fit into this equation? Which institutions will help them build the connections required to launch their careers?
Bentley University’s innovative Women’s Leadership Program attracts high priority student populations by emphasizing one-on-one mentorship opportunities with industry professionals. The corporate mentors offer students guidance based on their own experiences in the workplace and help them prepare for jobs. The mentors also participate in recruiting events, enabling prospective students to build their career network even before they enroll in college.
Contract-based projects with local employers
Students interested in pursuing careers in technical industries often rightly question whether college will provide them with enough practical experience to break into their chosen field. At the same time, employers struggle to identify top emerging student talent for entry-level positions who are ready to add value from day one. Deploying students to help employers complete one-off projects represents an opportunity to develop high-impact partnerships that provide value to both students and partnering organizations. Students can learn critical skills first-hand from employers while improving their chances of employment post-graduation. Employers can access inexpensive specialized labor for urgent projects while identifying a steady pipeline of long-term talent.
Wichita State University (WSU) partners with several regionally prominent aeronautics firms to provide students for contract projects. WSU sources and trains the students, provides faculty oversight, and retains 25 percent of the contract revenue, while students earn a $25 hourly wage and opportunities for full-time employment. Enabling students to gain practical experience and establishing a pipeline to employers helps recruit the next generation of ROI-focused prospective students who are looking for assurances about gainful employment post-college.
Other universities have developed similar programs for other industries such as advertising, based on availability of local employers and strong programs of study at their institutions. In the COVID-era, institutions may find that opportunities exist even beyond their local community, with a nationwide shift toward virtual work.
Career advancement program pathway
Some prospective students interested in specialized industries wonder whether college is worth their money—or their time. After all, many well-paid technical jobs do not require a four-year college degree. For example, students can acquire entry-level positions at Newport News Shipbuilding, Virginia’s largest industrial employer, with high school diplomas or associate degrees. These new, junior-level employees undergo on-the-job training as apprentices in Newport’s own “Apprentice School.”
However, entry-level employees have difficulty advancing their careers to management or leadership positions without a bachelor’s degree. Old Dominion University (ODU) solved this problem by collaborating with Newport News Shipbuilding to offer a program specifically designed for students who would like to work at Newport as apprentices while taking courses at ODU for a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical or Electrical Engineering.
In a typical week, the apprentices spend two days at ODU, learning concepts and theory (e.g. heat transfer, differential equations), and three days at the Apprentice School/Shipyard, applying their knowledge in engineering and design. The students are paid a $16 hourly wage and have their tuition, fees, and books covered by Newport, along with a guarantee of full-time employment post-graduation. Graduates of the program bypass entry-level positions, join at a higher pay grade, and are expected to advance quickly and take on managerial roles at the firm.
Universities can leverage partnerships with similar employers in local industries to show prospects how college fits into their goals for career progression.
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