A Big Reason Why You Lose Students

It’s one of the most overlooked reasons why students don’t choose a college or university.

The location of the school.

When students are doing their college research they come up with some vision for the kind of town and area they want (or don’t want) to go to college in.

If your school is in a small town and the student is looking for a city setting, they’re probably going to tell you no in the end. If your college is in a cold weather environment but they would prefer a warmer climate, it’s going to be a tough sell. The same thing applies if a student lives close to your campus and is worried about your school being high school 2.0.

I’m not saying it’s impossible to change a student’s mindset about their future college location, but I am telling you that 12 years of data says it’s unlikely in most cases.

Combine all that with the fact that this generation isn’t going to come to you unprompted and tell you that the location isn’t a good fit, and it’s imperative that you uncover this potential problem/concern early on.

Be prepared to ask each inquiry or admit some very specific location based questions such as, "What kind of location do you think would be right for you in college?"

If the student goes to high school nearby you might ask, “How do you feel about the idea of going to college somewhere familiar instead of somewhere completely new?”

If your school is out of state or more than 3-4 hours away you might ask, “What do you think you might miss out on if you went to college farther away from home?”

If your school is in a smaller town and the student lives in a bigger city you might ask, “What do you think some of the benefits might be if you went to college in a smaller town/bigger city?” Or, “When you first found out that our school was in a smaller town/bigger city, what was your initial reaction?”

Here are a few more general questions related to location that you might ask.

“When you picture where you want to spend the next four years, what does that place look and feel like?”

“What’s something about a college’s location that would make you say “This school isn’t right for me”?”

“What are you thinking when it comes to the distance from home for college? Have you talked to your parents and family about that yet?”

“How much does having the chance to meet an entirely new group of friends matter to you when you’re thinking about college?”

“When you think about life outside of classes, what do you hope the area around your future college offers?”

Anytime a student stumbles over their words or offers a very basic and non-specific answer, treat it as a red flag. Be sure to ask one or more follow-up questions so you can figure out if your school is being seriously considered, or is just one of many.

Ask, listen, assess and proceed accordingly.

If it’s hard to get a prospective student excited about your location then they’re probably going to tell you no in the end.

HAVE YOU MISSED ANY RECENT ARTICLES?

Everything I’ve written is free, easily accessible, and separated into categories. You can read or re-read past articles here.