And it’s not just competition among institutions for the best and brightest, either. Higher education increasingly needs to convince college-eligible students of the value of a postsecondary experience and degree, then persuade those students and their families to fork over the tens of thousands of dollars it costs to attend.
It’s surprising, then, that so many higher education institutions struggle to promote themselves and the financial resources they’ve poured into the student experience. That $1 billion has put cutting-edge technology tools right at students’ fingertips every day.
With all of that in mind, let’s look at some ways higher education institutions can better allocate and promote technology spending for the greatest impact.
Improving Student Device Programs in Higher Education
The appeal of student device programs is obvious. What student doesn’t want a free tablet or laptop when he or she commits to a college? The drawbacks are just as apparent: Devices aren’t cheap, and the impact depends a great deal on who’s receiving them. That’s why a targeted device program, generally speaking, is often a smarter way for higher education to approach the issue.
Need-based digital equity programs are hugely beneficial to students who may have never owned a personal device or had reliable Wi-Fi connectivity before enrolling. At places such as Lone Star College, loaning devices to the 9% of students who didn’t own them has helped encourage students to stay enrolled.
RELATED: University Wi-Fi networks improve digital equity in surrounding communities.
Targeting devices based on a student’s area of study or extracurricular activities also makes sense for institutions looking to provide devices on a smaller scale. At the University of Mississippi, student-athletes are provided with Apple devices that they keep even after graduation. University officials say that’s helped student-athletes stay engaged academically no matter where they are and, in the era of unrestricted transfers, given student-athletes one more reason to choose Ole Miss.
Not all device programs offer technology for free; in some cases, the cost is shared between the institution and the student. These types of programs keep down spending, of course, but they also give students greater incentive to take care of their devices. There’s also a version of this model where a base-level device is offered to students for free, and they are given the option to pay more for an upgraded laptop or tablet.
Invest in Technology Students Use After Graduation
It’s one thing to get a new laptop to help you complete your studies and use in your personal life. It’s another for a student to get to spend four years working with the technology tools they’ll also be using at their first jobs.
In some cases, such as at the College of Lake County, that could mean purchasing the latest manufacturing equipment to deliver hands-on training to future workers. Or it could be a medical school using immersive tools to simulate healthcare situations without putting anyone at risk.
It doesn’t have to be large or complex. At Shenandoah University, students in the school’s renowned music program are given MacBooks and iPads that include music editing software that’s standard in the industry. Even making Google Workspace for Education free for students allows them to become comfortable with its cloud-based applications, which are nearly ubiquitous in business.
RELATED: Can higher education do something good with decommissioned devices?
How to Sell Your University to Prospective (and Current) Students
The last step is the one that’s toughest for many institutions to embrace. Everything universities do — those major investments in technology, that well-considered device program, that shiny new esports arena, that championship-winning football team — is a marketing opportunity.
To some extent, the reticence to embrace cold-sounding sales and marketing tactics makes sense. After all, colleges and universities are high-minded places of research, knowledge and a shared mission, not a used car lot. But institutions are struggling. Changing the way you recruit students — including your current ones — could be key to staving off a loss of students, loss of programs or joining the growing list of colleges that have closed or merged in recent years.
To start, it’s time to look at admissions as a sales job. Admissions offices, and anyone else responsible for bringing students to campus, should be shouting from the rooftops about the financial investments in technology their schools have made. And they should lean into showing off the glitziest features of campus, whether that’s a high-definition video wall, a renovated library, an immersive learning space or even a device program.
UP NEXT: Can technology help community colleges avoid the enrollment cliff?
To stave off summer melt, admissions offices should have touchpoints with incoming students year-round, something that’s been made easier with the growth of generative artificial intelligence and university-specific chatbots. Along with the standard summer admissions packet, colleges could send out students’ new laptops, digital IDs that unlock their dorm doors and season tickets for the fall sports season to deliver a true “wow” moment for incoming students.
Convincing parents should be part of this strategy too. If universities have invested in building access control technology to keep students safe, student management systems to keep students on track for graduation and a new lineup of clubs and extracurriculars, that’s information most parents would love to know.
In the end, an investment in technology is only as valuable as the number of people who get to use it, and the first step to get students interested is to make sure they know everything available to them.
