During the free-on-friday’s webcast last week, a question was posed to the group, “what will next year’s admissions world be like – better or worse?”  I answered, “different” and was subsequently mocked for copping out.  But I stand firm by my answer.  As we go beyond the tipping point of change in college recruiting from a seller’s market to a buyer’s market, the environment is going to be different – better for some (state schools, community colleges) and worse for others (expensive, less well-known small private colleges and perhaps some name-brand, yet expensive universities.

A couple of years ago the NY Times posted a letter from a father to Northeastern University sharing his son’s decision to attend the University of Connecticut at a savings of $108,000 sighting the value differential.  This week CNN had a feature story highlighting a student who chose The College of New Jersey (one of my favorite state schools) over Boston College indicating that “one year at Boston College costs as much as four years at TCNJ.”

TCNJ’s value calculator makes it very clear how much a student might save over other comparable colleges.  Many colleges waited to play the negotiating game with families and their financial aid packages – and some are losing right now.  TCNJ puts it front and center.

• What are you doing this summer to explain your “value” of attending your institution?
• How do you “sell” going away to college (compared to attending a local community college or state school campus)?
• Are you able to differentiate yourself enough to justify your “real” cost of attendance?
• Are those on the front lines (recruiters) prepared to discuss “value” and have you highlighted this on your website?

Do you think next year is going to be better or worse at your institution? Or different?

Read more about our authors.  Brian is the CEO and Co-Founder of TargetX. Over twenty years ago, he started his career in admissions at a small, liberal arts college. He was a constant thorn in the admission director’s side – always wanting to try new ideas and technology. He took his energy (and vast collection of suspenders – it was the early 90′s) to lead the graduate and adult enrollment and marketing at a national university. In this leadership position, he helped differentiate his employer in one of the most crowded higher education marketplaces in the country and pioneered the use of the Internet in recruitment marketing. His passion sparked the genesis of TargetX, the company he has served for over 14 years as its co-founder and CEO. Along the way he’s earned his master’s degree in education at the University of Pennsylvania and built TargetX into a multi-million dollar technology and consulting firm serving over 450 colleges and universities. Brian is now a voice of change in an industry at its tipping point, helping colleges who have the gumption to embrace more effective recruiting techniques as traditional methods wither away. He is also the author of “Overthrowing Dead Culture: A Vision to Change the World of College Recruiting” available on Amazon.com and BN.com.