April 30, 2025
The US Education Industry is on the up and up.
Despite unemployment rising to more than 10% compared to around 9% in August 2023, due to new entrants seeking employment, higher education enrollment figures have seen a steady rise.
According to Education Dynamics’ ‘2025 Landscape of Higher Education report’, the Spring 2024 enrollment figures showed encouraging growth in both undergraduate and graduate studies.
Undergraduate numbers increased by 2.5%, particularly at community colleges, indicating a recovery from pandemic-era setbacks. Graduate programs also saw a 3% rise, suggesting a renewed interest in pursuing higher degrees.
On the other hand, more high school students are taking advantage of dual enrollment, leading to increased overall enrollment, particularly at public institutions and community colleges.
In this edition of ‘FAQs with Jenny’ our Founder and CEO, Jenny Karubian explores how the Education Industry can benefit from Market Research at a time when the industry is experiencing an uptick in enrollment.
Read on to find out how Market Research can help Educational institutions deliver more fulfilling educational experiences to its students, which Market Research methodology is right for your Educational Institution, what kinds of insights you can expect to discover through our Market Research solutions, and much more.
HOW CAN MARKET RESEARCH HELP THE EDUCATION INDUSTRY?
Market Research serves as a powerful tool for the Education sector which includes a diverse range of Educational institutions and EdTech firms. By delving into the minds of key stakeholders like students and parents, Market Research has the potential to uncover crucial insights that drive strategic decision-making for Educational institutions and entities.
For instance, Market Research can illuminate student preferences, optimizing enrollment strategies and attracting a wider pool of prospective learners. Similarly, understanding parental decision-making processes regarding school selection empowers institutions to refine their offerings and communication.
Jenny sheds light on how we’ve been able to deliver value to different Educational companies and organizations through our Market Research solutions as she says, ‘We have helped with a variety of different needs. Things such as unlocking student insights to help boost enrollment. We have unlocked parent insights to understand how they choose schools. We’ve talked to a variety of different employers about how they choose continuing education programs for their employees and a whole variety of things. There’s a lot of different reasons why Educational companies come to us and we’ve been able to help them achieve their goals.’
This broad scope of inquiry allows Educational entities to tailor their programs to meet evolving industry demands. Whether it's enhancing curriculum design, improving marketing campaigns, or identifying new market opportunities, Market Research provides the data-driven foundation necessary for Educational organizations to achieve their objectives and remain competitive.
WHAT ARE THE MARKET RESEARCH METHODOLOGIES MOST COMMONLY ADOPTED?
According to Jenny, the Market Research methodology of choice would vary depending on the Market Research objectives of the given project.
Jenny says, ‘We’ve done Social Listening studies, we do Market Intelligence Reports, we’ve done Focus Groups, Surveys, In-depth Interviews, we’ve also done Online Discussion Boards when we’re trying to talk to international students who maybe spread across geographic boundaries. Then that way we can use asynchronous studies to be able to capture their insights as well.’
Click here to learn more about our Market Research solutions for the Education Industry.
WHAT IS THE RIGHT MARKET RESEARCH SOLUTION FOR YOUR EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION?
Understanding student and parent perspectives in Educational Research hinges significantly on the project's objectives. The choice between interviewing parents, students, or both is not arbitrary but rather a strategic decision dictated by the research goals.
Often, Qualitative Research with Educational institutions involves in-depth conversations with both students and parents, particularly in the K-12 sector, where parental involvement is crucial in enrollment decisions. This dual approach allows researchers to capture a holistic view of the educational experience, incorporating both the student's direct perspective and the parental influence that shapes their academic journey.
However, Jenny says, ‘When we’re talking to older students, students who are 18+ or in high school about the universities that they’re selecting then we will not talk to the parents and we’ll just talk to the students.’ The dynamics shifts when focusing on older students. In these cases, the research primarily concentrates on the students' perspectives, recognizing their increasing autonomy in decision-making.
The rationale behind this approach is rooted in the understanding that older students possess the maturity and independence to articulate their preferences and motivations regarding higher education. Ultimately, the selection of interview participants, whether parents, students, or both, is a tailored decision, meticulously aligned with the unique requirements and objectives of each specific research project.
INSIGHTS ONLY MARKET RESEARCH COULD UNLOCK?
Jenny goes on to share some anecdotes on past research projects where our team was able to uncover some interesting and unexpected insights in the Education Industry.
She says, ‘Doing research for Educational institutions is always very interesting, especially talking to students about why they enroll. Students will choose colleges and high schools for a variety of reasons that oftentimes are not top of mind either for their parents or for the institutions themselves. For example, I spoke with a variety of students on one study when we were trying to understand why students pick universities and one of the main things that people were selecting a university based on was what their campus looked like. Students were saying they wanted beautiful brick buildings and lawns where they could sit and read for hours, and this wasn’t something that the clients even knew that students cared about. So, for the next generation of their marketing materials and for their social media they made sure to demonstrate how beautiful their campus was in the materials. These are the kinds of insights that we can unlock when we’re doing research with students and with parents.’
‘Additionally, when we’re working on boosting student enrollment, we will oftentimes interview people who have enrolled at the school as well as people who have been given an admission but have not enrolled. That gives us a lot of insights when we are talking with students who chose another institution even though they were accepted to the client’s institution to understand what influenced their decision making process.’
‘One fun example that came up in a study that we were doing with high school students is about why they picked a private high school. We talked to a variety of students who had chosen this one private high school because they offered tours and gave the kids breakfast burritos and the breakfast burritos were really really popular and that is what cost my client at least three different students. So, they knew for the upcoming school year when they were going to be offering campus tours feeding the students would go a long way. So, it’s really interesting, small insights like this can go a long way for clients. That particular client that I offered the example to actually boosted their enrollment by 10% from one year to the next. Just based off some really interesting insights that we were able to garner through the Focus Group research that we conduct.’
Get in touch to discuss your Education Market Research strategy and find out how you can leverage student insights to boost enrollment numbers.
Direct Connect:
