Some schools have even chosen to send only digital offers, which can save thousands of dollars in print and postage costs. However, in a world where high school families are inundated with digital outreach, they are showing an increased affinity for mailed information. In fact, Spark451 hosts an annual college-bound survey for high school seniors and parents who just recently concluded their search process, and the results are clear: they want tangible materials now. While there may have been a moment where mail seemed antiquated, printed financial aid offers are likely here to stay.

You’re already creating an aid package for every student, so why not get it to them faster while simultaneously enabling your admissions team to have better, more informative, and actionable conversations with students? Why not send it digitally first?

What a long, strange admissions cycle this year has been! Historically, when we think about yielding students, there has always been the idea of preparing for the potential melt that we might experience. Usually it’s over the summer, post orientation, when students might get cold feet, or feelings have changed and the school where they deposited is no longer the one they want to attend. As experienced enrollment professionals, we try to combat these scenarios with thoughtful communications and innovative experiences, where we can show students that, yes, our school is where you belong.

It’s likely that this year we’ll be running into similar reasons why students change their minds, but in addition to the normal melt we’ve come to expect and prepare for, we’ve also had a difficult year awarding financial aid due to the challenges of a restructured FAFSA, updating calculations in SAI (Student Aid Index) to account for inflation, and delayed release of information to schools. It’s going to be more important than ever to make sure you’re doing everything possible to help students figure out their financing for college, and to reduce melt by proactively engaging students and their families through the spring and summer.

This year, providing personalized outreach and opportunities for students and their families to connect with your campus, faculty and staff, and other resources will allow you to show your commitment to providing the best possible experience for students looking to enroll at your institution. Ideally, offering tailored campus visits promoting academic experiences, offering one-on-one financial aid counseling to students and their families, and building connections between current and future students will help maintain engagement levels and continued interest in attending your school.

In addition to your outreach efforts, it’s going to be more important than ever to communicate timely information to students about their financial awards, acknowledging the delays and when they can expect to learn more information, and how you are prepared to support them through this process. By providing this information, you’ll save the students and their families the anxiety of not knowing what is going on. While you may not have clear timelines laid out internally, it is also important to show your prospective students that you’re supporting them, that you understand how difficult decision-making can be, and are continuing to work diligently in partnership with them to make their experiences as beneficial as possible.

We tend to draw a lot of lines between students and parents in higher education, but many parents remain critically invested in their child’s education. The more connected a parent feels to an institution, the more they champion that institution to their child. Kerge advises mapping out touchpoints around critical enrollment timelines, then sending texts and emails highlighting key events and successes throughout the years. Institutions can also invite parents onto campus for occasions other than Parents’ Weekend, such as sporting events or speaker series.

Think about all the companies offering friend and family discounts. This is a great way to build brand alliance and is a tactic that higher education should consider. What benefits can you offer student families that will help solidify your brand? In many cases, institutions offer students deals on software or discounts at local restaurants and shops. Can these be extended to families as well?

Institutions should identify the benefits that draw parents onto campus and use them. Can families also access the school’s library? What about gym nights, parent/child yoga classes, or even discounted dining hall days? Offering these opportunities to extended family members can help an institution build brand equity with audiences beyond their students.

Kerge recommends institutions harness social media channels and ensure that current students and influencers are on those channels. It’s common practice during admissions season for prospective students and parents to join a school’s admissions groups, but what about current students and parents?

Institutions should promote their brand to current students on social media. Find out where students and parents spend their time and invest resources into creating posts, videos, and other messages that resonate with students and highlight your institution’s brand. Keep in mind, too, that your students are probably creating their own social media groups and channels. These are as impactful in promoting school culture as anything official from your school.

At least once a semester, survey continuing students as well as their parents to gain insights into what they feel is important, what the school is doing particularly well, and what areas could use improvement. Student and parent attitudes can change year to year, even semester to semester, and identifying successes and issues can help institutions address them quickly. If both students and parents know that they have a voice on your campus and that their voice is making a difference, the chances of retaining them increase.

Watch for signs and symptoms that a student is disengaging from the institution and create a plan of proactive engagement. There are several ways to do this. Keep an eye on specific transfer-signaling behaviors like drops in meal plan utilization (food can be a huge motivator for students) or transcript requests. Also keep a close watch on stop-out or drop-out behaviors. Retention systems like Jenzabar Retention create student profiles and possess predictive modeling and early alert systems, allowing you to identify struggling students quickly and implement counteractive measures.