the decision-making behavior of post-traditional students

1 Confidential © InsideTrack

The decision-making behavior of

post-traditional students

An analysis of coaching data from InsideTrack

Confidential © InsideTrack


The data in this presentation is drawn from records of in-depth coach: student interactions

We reviewed records from InsideTrack Coaching of more than 140,000

prospective and enrolled post-traditional students to assess their:

• Reasons for pursuing a degree

• Institution selection criteria

• Concerns with online learning

• Non-start reasons

• Drop reasons

3 Confidential © InsideTrack 3 Confidential © InsideTrack

Reasons for pursuing a degree


Most post-traditional students are pursuing a degree to advance in their current career

55%

18%

12% 10%

Career Advancer Career Starter Career Changer Personal Goal

Top Reason for Pursuing a Degree (n=29791)

More post-traditional students

seek Career Advancement as

their primary goal than all

other options combined

But, make sure

your marketing

messages don’t

ignore the other

45%.


Online students are more likely to be Career Starters than campus-based post-traditional students

54%

23%

13% 11%

61%

14% 14% 11%


Top Reason for Pursuing a Degree (n=29791)

Online

Ground

Online students 64%

more likely to be

Career Starters Consider

differentiating

marketing

messages for

ground and online

programs.


Female post-traditional students are more likely to be Career Starters than males

56%

22%

11% 11%

62%

14% 13%

11%


Reason for Pursuing a Degree (n=18865)

Female

Male

Females 57% more

likely to be Career

Starters

Consider

differentiating

marketing

messages for male

and female

prospects.


Online students at selective institutions are more likely to be Career Advancers

80%

6% 2%

13%

57%

16% 12% 12%

53%

21%

12% 10%


Reason for Pursuing a Degree (n=29791)

Highly Selective Instituion

Semi-Selective Institution

Open Access Institution

Online students at highly selective

institutions far more likely to be Career

Advancers and far less likely to be Career

Starters or Career Changers

Know how your

selectivity affects

the motivations of

students you

attract.


Age and military service also impact reasons for pursuing a degree

Specific distinctions include:

Post-traditional students under age 25 are

more likely to be Career Starters; students

age 40+ more likely to be driven by a

Personal Goal.

Current and former military service

members are more likely to be Career

Changers; non-military more likely to be

Career Advancers.



Institution selection criteria



Prospective post-traditional students often select institutions based on reputation and convenience

39% 39%

12%

Institutional Reputation Convenience Academic Program Quality

Top Institution Selection Criteria Among Prospective Post-Traditional Students (n=28722)

The importance of Academic

Program Quality varies by

student type, but is always 3rd

on the list

Know when to

focus marketing

messages on the

program vs the

institution.


Campus-based post-traditional students care more about specific academic program quality

40% 41%

10%

27%

30%

25%



Online

Ground

Ground students more than

twice as likely to base

decisions on Academic

Program Quality

If the same

program is

available online

and on campus,

you may need to

market each

differently.


The less selective the institution, the more convenience and academic program quality matter

62%

30%

7%

45% 46%

8%

36%

49%

12%



Highly Selective Instituion

Semi-Selective Institution

Open Access Institution

Prospective students at less selective institutions

60% more likely to value Convenience

Highly selective

institutions should

remember that

convenience is still

very important.


Current and former military service members value Convenience most

39%

54%

7%

67%

26%

6%



Military

Non-Military

The importance of Convenience

and Institutional Reputation

opposite for Military and Non-

Military post-traditional

students

Service members

and vets want to

know that they can

fit your program

into a busy and

geographically

mobile life.


There are no significant differences in selection criteria based on age or gender

Based on our analysis:

Both male and female post-traditional

students value Convenience most,

followed closely by Institutional

Reputation, with Academic Program

Quality a distant third.

Older students care slightly more about

Convenience than younger students, but

the order and general magnitude of

selection criteria are consistent across age

groups.



Concerns with online learning



Online students are most concerned about their ability to get a quality education online

19%

16% 15%

13%

8% 8%

7%

5%

3% 2% 2% 2%

1%

Top Concerns with Online Learning (n=2813)

Many also concerned that their diploma will say

it is from an online degree program, due to

employer perceptions

Addressing these

concerns in the

admissions

process results in

stronger

commitment to

completion.


Concerns about time management in online learning increase significantly with age

24% 26% 25% 25%

19%

37%

22% 25%

19%

45%

18% 17%

Fear of theunknown

Time management Online degreenoted on diploma

Quality ofEducation


<25 yrs old

25-40 yrs old

40+ yrs old

It’s important to

proactively

address time

management with

younger, less self-

aware prospects.

Students age 40+ nearly

twice as likely as students

under age 25 to cite “time

management” concerns


Females are more likely to cite a “fear of the unknown”, Males “being new to online learning”

11%

20%

58%

12%

17% 15%

54%

14%

Fear of the unknown New to online Time management Self-study


Male

Female

Males 33%

more likely to

cite “newness”

Females 55%

more likely to

cite “fear” The language you

use plays an

important role in

how your message

is received.


The selectivity of the institution and age of the student also influence areas of concern


When it comes to concerns about:

• whether their degree says that it is from

an online program

• the quality of the online education they

will receive

• the responsiveness of professors

Online students at highly selective

institutions are more concerned.

Online students over the age of 40 are less

concerned.



Non-start reasons



If they don’t start at your institution, the most likely reason is that they went somewhere else

25%

19%

15% 14%

12%

8%

3% 2% 2% 1%

Top Non-Start Reasons (n=16391)

Often cited in prospect

surveys, finances

account for a small

portion of non-starts

One-quarter of

conversion losses due to

competition

Though most

prospects don’t

consider suitability

(fit) and

commitment to

graduation, these

are critical to

avoiding drops

later – be proactive

in addressing

them.


Females are more likely not to start due to financial issues; males are more often unresponsive

24% 23%

3%

11%

8%

15%

2% 3% 3%

1%

25%

23%

4%

11% 12%

9%

2% 2%

4%

2%


Male

Female

Females 50% more likely

than males to not start

due to financial issues

Males 67% more likely to

be unresponsive after

inquiry

It may be

necessary to

adjust contact rate

goals by prospect

gender.


Current/former military service members typically start somewhere once they inquire

51%

14% 14%

8%

4% 3% 3%

38%

25%

16%

11%

2% 4%

1%


Military

Non-Military

Current/former military service

members significantly less likely

not to start or to face issues with

external commitments Service members

and vets are typically

committed once they

inquire and may be

worthy of added

focus.


The selectivity of the institution and age of the prospect also influence non-start reasons


Competition only accounts for 7% of non-starts at semi-selective institutions, but 27% and

30% at highly selective and open access institutions, respectively.

24% of non-starts at semi-selective institutions are due to Qualification/Academic

Requirements versus 10% at highly selective institutions.

Prospects under age 25 are more than twice as likely as those age 40+ to not start due to

Qualification/Academic Requirements.

Prospects age 40+ are more than twice as likely as those under age 25 to not start due to

External Commitments.

Confidential © InsideTrack 24


Drop reasons



Difficulty managing non-academic commitments is the main reason post-traditional students drop

25%

20%

13%

9% 8% 8%

7%

Top Drop Reasons (n=117,018)

Academic issues

account for less than

10% of drops

More than 1/3 of drops come

from difficulty managing and

following through on

commitments Addressing

potential obstacles

during admissions

is critical to

ensuring

persistence.


Campus-based post-traditional students are more likely to drop due to effectiveness issues

25%

20%

12%

9% 8% 8%

7%

27%

16%

20%

7%

5%

10% 9%


Online

Ground

Post-traditional ground

students 2/3 more likely to

drop due to lack of follow-

through on commitments

Short-term (weekly)

accountability

mechanisms

enhance persistence.


Female post-traditional students are more likely to drop due to health and support issues

20%

17%

14%

9% 10%

11%

8%

23%

18%

16%

10% 10%

6% 7%


Female

Male

Women 83% more

likely to drop due to

Health and Support

Back-up plans for

elder and child

care reduce female

student attrition.


Institution selectivity, military status and student age also influence drop reasons


18% of drops at semi-selective institutions involve students taking a planned session off.

Current and former military service members are more likely to drop due to External

Commitments and less likely to drop due to Effectiveness issues.

Students under age 25 are more likely to drop due to Finance and Effectiveness issues.

Students age 40+ are more likely to drop due to Health and Support issues or lack of

Commitment to Graduation.



Increase enrollment, retention and graduation by 15%.

• 1:1 coaching for prospective and enrolled students

• Actionable insights on student perceptions and needs

• Systems to ensure measurement and accountability

InsideTrack works with you to implement a system for continuous improvement

InsideTrack is the only college dropout

prevention initiative to meet WWC evidence

standards


Unlocking human potential since 2001

@insidetrack linkedin.com/company/insidetrack

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the decision-making behavior of post-traditional students

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