Marketing to whom? Higher education institutions’ student recruitment strategies

1. Marketing to whom?Higher education institutions’ student recruitment strategies The 30th Annual EAIR FORUM, 24–27 August 2008, Copenhagen N. Frølich, S. Brandt, E. Hovdhaugen & P.O. Aamodt

2. Why explore HEIs’ student recruitment strategies? • Previous studies: • equity and equal access • branding, marketing and advertising • Scarce: • how HEIs develop their student recruitment strategies, particularly in the European context • Why is this theme of interest? • The specific organisational dynamics • Recent Public administration reform • The geopolitical context

3. This paper • Combines: • markets in higher education • strategy formulation in HEIs • Looks at: • how the individual HEI’s position in the student market influences its recruitment strategy • Specific issues: • the linking of marketing to development of attractive educational programmes • competition in several markets • diversity in educational programmes • diversity in student recruitment

4. Markets in higher education • An essential aspect of the HEI environments • a relatively recent phenomenon in the European context • Previously policy based on “social engineering” • new public management has changed the traditional role of government

5. Conditions for markets in higher education • “Four freedoms” for providers • Freedom of entry • Freedom to specify the product • Freedom to use available resources • Freedom to determine prices • “Four freedoms” for consumers • Freedom to choose provider • Freedom to choose product • Adequate information on prices and quality • Direct and cost-covering prices paid (Jongbloed 2003)

6. Strategy formulation • HEIs formulate strategies to survive in the HE market • Strategy: • the choices organisations make; markets or clients to serve, the distinct way it seeks to provide its outputs, the tactics it employs and the output goals it sets for itself • External pressure for strategy formulation • But: organisations with loosely coupled structures

7. Empirical basis • Seven HEIs • 3 large full universities in the Southern part of Norway, urban regions • 1 medium full university in the Northern part of Norway, urban in remote region • 1 small university college, predominantly Professional Studies in the Northern part of Norway, remote region • 1 medium university college, predominantly Professional Studies in the Southern part of Norway, remote region, close to urban area • 1 large university college, predominantly Professional Studies in the Southern part of Norway, urban region

8. Findings • The HE market is an essential aspect of the environments to which HEIs relate, and the HEI’s strategies are affected by their position in the student market. • The recruitment strategies of Norwegian HEIs include product development (study programmes) as well as product marketing. • It is apparent that the institutions’ position in the student market results in different strategies; nevertheless, there are striking similarities. • The largest universities tend to sell themselves as offering broad-based, general studies, while the smaller institutions emphasise their uniqueness. • A favourable market position allows an institution to be selective and as well as to maintain a sufficient volume of students.

9. Discussion • We expected institutions with a weak market position to adopt a strategy for broadening their applicant pool by targeting a diverse body of consumers, but this proved to be more of secondary strategy. • It appears that all the institutions primarily direct their marketing efforts toward traditional full-time (young) students rather than non-traditional students. • Certain institutions offer specially designed programmes for adult students, sometimes in cooperation with employers. • The recruitment strategies were more fully developed than we expected, keeping in mind the specific characteristics of HEIs.

10. Conclusion • The different recruitment strategies of the institutions studied reflect both their different educational profiles as well as their position in the student market. Given both the magnitude and the dimensions of these differences, we find the strategies surprisingly similar. • All the institutions tend to focus on the broad market of traditional students in which they meet open competition rather than focusing on the uniqueness of their institution and operating in a protected market. • Copying seems to be the main institutional coping strategy.