Recruitment and Retention: the Consumer oriented Student

College students today are consumer oriented and extremely mobile. Their knowledge of the dollars invested in higher education and their perception of career planning outcome has made them consumer savvy. The dollars spent and the career choices made can be defined by them as a return on their college investment. If they think another school will give a better return, they might move on. There maybe no loyalty to a particular school. For them, the lure of school spirit, fraternities, sororities, and friendship may not be about a particular school, but rather a school that can meet their end result expectations.

Nomadic students have become a real concern for small colleges. Their transfers, withdrawals, and terminations can impact the stability and certainly the enrollment. Large colleges and universities are competing for these students. Assuming that current trends will continue, it is incumbent upon small colleges and universities to develop a recruitment and retention strategy. These schools may need to look again at the quality and management of their products.

Schools look toward the Career Counseling and placement Center, and rightly so, to develop a convivial environment comfortable to the basic needs and demands of the students during their college sojourn. Students need a fundamental framework for their academic career. They need a Career Counseling and Placement Center to seek information about lucrative jobs that will merit them the best career for the educational dollars invested and advice that will aid in the career planning.

There are no easy answer for recruitment and retention of these consumer oriented students, but there are some steps that can be taken to increase the probability of success at small colleges and universities.

Provide high schools with the college bulletin via internet

Establish a yearly parent day for all students

List all available support services (counselors-academic, emotional, career)

Make sure that all support services are solid and in place.

Have checks and balances in place for each student toward graduation

Provide a list of achieving alumni with whom students can network

For years, the small colleges and universities were the safety nets schools for the college bound student, but now the student pool is open to all academia. It is deemed that small colleges and universities are faced with a lack of enrollment management skill and capital to protect their share of the student market. Nevertheless, if these universities are to survive this consumer education era, they must be prepared to respond to challenges of the new consumer oriented students at all levels of the institution. Students must be able to discern that they have made the best choice. Leaving for another school might be less viable option when the student believes that the small college or university is a place to invest for a sound foundation in education that will lead to that lucrative career choice.