RESEARCH-BASED MARKET INTELLIGENCE

We strongly believe in the superiority of private undergraduate education, and are constantly looking for new ways to arm our clients with tools to:

• demonstrate and measure private educational strengths

• assess the degree to which prospective students and parents recognize those strengths

• evaluate how to better communicate educational advantages

• understand families’ perceptions of college financing

We’ve collaborated with both individual colleges and private college consortia (the Annapolis Group, Great Lakes College Association, Minnesota Private College Council, Associated Colleges of Illinois, Lutheran Educational Conference of North America, and the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, Council of Independent Colleges, Independent Colleges of Washington) to develop and refine the following research models.

Comparative Alumni Research Project. Using a proprietary research instrument and database containing more than 8,000 respondents, we survey private college alumni to compare their undergraduate experiences and life outcomes to those of competitor public schools’ graduates. This quantifies strengths and identifies areas that could use improvement.

To see how the Council of Independent Colleges (for example) uses key messages and data from the research, click here.

For a list of Frequently Asked Questions about the research, click HERE.

Student Outlook ^TM. Syndicated to spread the cost among many private colleges, our attitude and opinion survey of first semester sophomores and juniors gleans insights into:

• The perceived strengths and weaknesses of private and public institutions

• The visibility of each participating college within its state

• What educational features students find attractive

• Where students think these things are most likely to be found

• When students begin their college search, and what sources of information they trust

There are two major benefits to conducting competitive marketing research in a syndicated project. First, the price per college is a fraction of what the entire project costs. Second, all participating colleges benefit when each college uses the research to make a better case for private colleges to those students who are considering public institutions.

For a more complete description of the product, click HERE.

Syndicated Focus Groups. Hardwick~Day Summer Seminars have included the opportunity to observe focus groups of prospective students and parents as they are queried about issues of concern to enrollment officers at private colleges.

These groups have always been enlightening, entertaining, and have provided, on a per-college cost, very efficient ways to view perspectives and perceptions held by members of our potential markets. The richness and sometimes-startling information from such sessions provides immediate - and often simple to execute - direction for marketing and communication efforts.

Several individual colleges have inquired about the possibility of conducting such sessions in locations around the US, for which individual colleges could "subscribe."

The first such groups were conducted in late January 2005 just outside Washington D.C. in Fairfax, Virginia. Observers from the subscribing colleges were treated to two very rich and informative sessions – one with high school juniors, and another with parents of high school juniors.

The take-aways? Better understanding of the role of awareness in the college consideration process, a deepened appreciation for the ways in which Millenials and their parents interact and interdepend, and some very concrete ideas for both further exploration and tactical implementation.

To find out more about the details of such sessions click here.

Public policy research. We are pioneers in public policy research for state private college consortia, provide leadership in higher education finance, and bring our private college clients a depth of understanding about families’ perceptions of college and college financing.

Price, positioning and image research. We use qualitative and quantitative research to explore and evaluate:

• how a school is perceived by the students and parents it wishes to attract

• how a college’s price (tuition) is perceived relative to educational value

• how to identify and communicate what’s unique and compelling about an institution

More information can be found on this subject by clicking here.