NYIP implemented a private social network for their prospective students and
was amazed at the level of interaction current and prospective students had in
their ...
CASE STUDY
Building Community at a Distance Education Institution The New York Institute of Photography (NYIP) is a distance education school which offers various courses in photography to students all over the world. NYIP’s home study courses range from beginner to professional level instruction and offer open enrollment throughout the year.
Institutional Goals: 1 Connect students around their
program and coursework 2 Improve enrollment rates 3 Answer questions to improve the student experience
1 A Community in Action
PEER FEEDBACK
NYIP implemented a private social network for their prospective students and was amazed at the level of interaction current and prospective students had in their online community. NYIP promoted their community through email announcements to welcome new members. They also trained community managers to answer questions and set up keyword alerts to notify the school of conversations regarding enrollment decisions.
UVERSITY.COM
CASE STUDY
2 Impacting Enrollment Rates After seeing success in smaller test groups, NYIP decided to open the community to all prospective students at the beginning of 2012. Because both prospective students and current students are able to interact within the community, they’re able to chat about the quality of courses and the level of engagement between students and the school, eliminating a lot of the hesitation they may have before signing up.
PROSPECT CONVERSION RATE SCHOOLS APP MEMBERS
NONMEMBERS
21% 4%
PEER INFLUENCE ON ENROLLMENT
After analyzing enrollment results for their first few months of use, they found that prospects who joined Schools App were 21.35% likely to enroll compared to 3.92% likely to enroll for non-community members.
3 What Students are Saying
STUDENT FEEDBACK
After surveying students, 1 out of 4 said the community was very helpful in deciding whether or not they would enroll. Students also reported the application was somewhat or very helpful in connecting with other students (87%), connecting with school staff (78%), and answering questions about the school (78%).
STUDENTS GAVE THE APP
4 OUT OF 5 IN EASE OF USE, FUNCTIONALITY, AND BEING INFORMATIVE
“Schools App has helped us increase our conversion rate by giving prospective students a community where they can interact with like-minded people, school staff, and current students. They get answers to their questions, making their likelihood to enroll that much higher.”
