Service Line: Student Search

Carnegie announced today its acquisition of Fire Engine RED’s Student Search service. This move follows Carnegie’s acquisitions of Maguire Associates and Underscore, strategic decisions that brought financial aid strategy and Slate CRM expertise to Carnegie’s modern approach to Student Search.

Student Search is a critical part of any recruitment strategy, and College Board is likely a primary source to build your early pipeline. But there are many changes this year regarding the College Board Student Search Service.

Transfer students are often the forgotten demographic when it comes to higher education marketing strategies. According to the New York Times, transfers have been almost invisible because they weren’t counted in federal graduation rates for colleges and universities until recently.

The Connection Conference 2022 was full of memorable moments and insights from higher education and digital marketing professionals. Here are five of our favorite quotes from this year’s conference and a little insight into why we love them.

We recently hosted a webinar called It’s Time to Redefine and Redesign Student Search, where we made the case for a new model of Student Search—one that’s market-minded and student-centric. We got so many great questions that we didn’t have time to answer live, so we’re delivering those answers now.

Student Search is a marketing effort traditionally associated with undergraduate recruitment, but with major demographic changes upon us, we’re focusing our attention on non-traditional audiences. I propose we consider shifting our strategies too—specifically Student Search for graduate recruitment.

In 2018, I attended a higher education marketing conference where one idea in particular captured my attention: authentic voice. At the time, I was a Director of Graduate Programs—35+ master’s, doctoral, and post-bachelor’s programs, to be more specific.

Student Search, as Carnegie is redefining it, is building a cross-channel, personalized, and responsive communications plan that ultimately is more about the prospective student than it is about the school.

Student Search, as Carnegie is redefining it, is building a cross-channel, personalized, and responsive communications plan that ultimately is more about the prospective student than it is about the school.