Education Dynamics

Higher Education Statistics and Trends

This year, millions of people will attend one of the 4,146 colleges or universities in the United States. Others will earn their degree abroad. Some will be the first person in the family to ever receive a degree. Millions more will finish their degree online. Single mothers will improve their earning potential and be better providers for their children by going to night classes.

Students will surf the Internet more than they’ll watch TV. They will share secrets with hundreds of online friends they’ve never met. They will instant message and send MySpace notes instead of emailing.

The world is changing, and so are the best methods for reaching today’s students and potential students. To keep you informed about the demographic and behavioral changes that can affect your higher education marketing, EducationDynamics provides this compilation of the latest statistics and information. If you would like to challenge any stats or contribute some of your own, contact Matthew Ulmer, Marketing and Communications Manager, at mulmer@educationdynamics.com.

Quick jump to:
The Current State of Higher Education
Student Trends in Technology
School Trends in  Student Prospecting
School Trends in  Student Enrollment
School Trends in  Student Retention

The Current State of Higher Education

• Less than half (46.9 percent) of students nationwide earn their degree within five years. [1]
  
• Just 58% of all students enrolled in a four-year institution will actually earn a bachelor's degree. ¹
  
• 60% of those students who earn a bachelor's degree do so at an institution other than the one at which they began their college career. ¹
  
• A record 18 million students enrolled in college in Fall 2007[2]
  
• It was projected that during the 2007–08 academic year, 699,000 associate's degrees, 1,544,000 bachelor's degrees, 631,000 master's degrees, 89,300 first-professional degrees and 55,300 doctor's degrees would be awarded. ²
  
• In the 2002-2003 academic year, 1,517,199 women earned a college degree versus 1,103,695 (57.9 percent women).[3]  This gap has continued to widen.
  
• In 2008, 10.6 million women were enrolled as college students, compared to 7.7 million men.[4]         
• More than 3.5 million people in the education system are taking online classes.[5]

 

Student Trends in Technology

• 60% of teens do not consider personal communication (text messages, instant messages, emails, blogs, etc.) to count as writing.[6]
  
• Just under half (49%) of all Internet users use search engines on a typical day[7]
  
• “Internet users with higher levels of education are more likely to use search on a typical day.”⁵
  
• The age group of search engine users:
  • 18 – 29 years                           55%
    
  • 30 – 49 years                           54%
    
  • 50 – 64 years                           40%
    
  • 65 years and older                   27%
    
• Four in five adults in America are now online.[8]   
  
• The average Internet user spends14 hours a week online.⁸  However, as far back as 2006 (ages in tech years), teenagers were spending nearly 3 hours a day online.[9]
  
• One-third of all of those aged 18 to 29-years-old use only a cell phone or the Internet to make and receive phone calls.[10]
  
• 95% of all teenage girls and 93% of all teenage boys use the Internet or email.  96% of 15 to 17-year-olds use the Internet or e-mail.[11]
  
• 59% of all teenagers aged 12 to 17-years-old have participated in some form of Web 2.0.
• 55% of online teens have created a profile on a social networking site such as MySpace or Facebook, and 57% watch online videos on video sites such as YouTube.[12]
  
• “The use of social media – from blogging to online social networking to creation of all kinds of digital material – is central to many teenagers’ lives.”¹⁰
  
• The rate of Internet diffusions in the creation of the World Wide Web surpasses that of other communication technologies.¹²
  
• As of January 2005, 57% of those 18-29 answered yes to the question "have you ever gotten information about a college, university, or other school you or another family member was thinking of attending?" Additionally, 45% of 133 million people said the Internet played a major role as they decided about a school or a college for themselves or their children.[13]
  
• As of 2004, 75% of the time potential students spent searching for college was spent online.[14]

 

School Trends in Student Prospecting

• According to a recent survey conducted by EducationDynamics[15], most survey respondents (50%) say they plan to increase their online marketing budgets in the coming year.
  
• Many schools—including Dickinson College in Pennsylvania and Ball State University in Indiana—are enlisting student bloggers to post true chronicles of student life in hopes of grabbing the attention of the MySpace generation.[16]
  
• Other universities are designing immersive online experiences, including video episodes and blogs, which are written, produced and directed entirely by students. The results of these student-led initiatives speak for themselves. For example, after Longwood University in Virginia combined video content on its admissions website in conjunction with other marketing activities, the school saw a 20 percent increase in applications over the last two years.[17]
  
• To reach prospective students, including the approximately two-thirds of high school graduates who are going directly on to a two- or four-year college[18], many schools are integrating online marketing with more traditional methods of outreach, such as combining emails with written letters, phone calls, direct mailings, and print and broadcast advertising.

 

School Trends in Student Enrollment

• Because more students are using online technology, colleges and universities are realizing the Internet’s value in driving student enrollment among various age groups. In just one year, Facebook saw a demographic shift in its users, reporting huge jumps in visits from teenagers (potential undergraduate students) and post-graduate students. The number of users among the 12 to 17 age group jumped by 149 percent.[19]
  
• Moreover, a recent study showed that “96 percent of students with online access use social networking technologies such as chatting, text messaging, blogging and visiting online communities such as Facebook, MySpace and Webkinz.”[20] That same study revealed that nearly 60 percent of students reported discussing education-related topics online, including college planning and careers.[21]
  
• Online lead generation is proving to be a valuable tool for both students and schools. Through websites, email and online ads, students can find detailed information about university degree and certificate programs. And universities can take advantage of a highly targeted method by which to market themselves to students they know are more likely to enroll—saving time and effort in the process. Additionally, schools can truly measure the effectiveness of online enrollment programs as schools pay only for qualified leads obtained.[22]

 

School Trends in Student Retention

• Recent research indicates that while undergraduates come to campuses highly motivated to finish their degrees, “… only 46.9 percent of students nationwide complete their degrees within five years.”¹ And “… only 58 percent of students who enroll in a 4-year college or university will earn a bachelor's degree. Some 60 percent of those students who do earn a bachelor's degree earn it at a different school than the one at which they started pursuing the degree.”
  
• Only one-third of traditional freshman will earn their bachelor’s degree from the same school in four years, and drop out and stop out rates are much higher with adult and online learners.[23]
  
• Educational consulting firm Noel-Levitz reports that schools who successfully boost retention rates by identifying and addressing student concerns have already “…  developed comprehensive retention plans that accomplish three things: they unify efforts across campus offices and personnel, they leverage existing resources and they convert data into action plans.”¹ 
  
• Traditional students aren’t the only ones colleges and universities are focusing on with recruiting and retention efforts. According to a recent poll, “… more than 53 percent of respondents agree that adult learners are the most challenging group to reach and retain.”[24] With more adults continuing their education, schools are looking at innovative ways to incorporate different generational behaviors to reach their target audience.