By Mary Laphen Pope and Laurie Fladd
Community colleges around the country have found new ways to recruit and connect with students, and now they can show off tactics that work.
In 2023, Lumina Foundation partnered with several small community colleges nationwide to connect with potential and current students via cell phones by meeting them where they are: in their living rooms, during lunch breaks, and at childcare pickup lines. The mobile optimization-focused grants aimed to engage and enroll adult students through enhanced digital presence, mobile design, and improved access. These strategies included website redesign, AI chatbots, and virtual orientation programs.
We asked some of these schools to share their innovative ideas. Take a look with your college in mind —and “steal” a strategy or two.
Here are some of those ideas:
- Blackhawk Technical College redesigned its website to streamline the enrollment process. During the pandemic, we saw how a lack of connectivity can make enrolling more difficult for community college students. Because many rural communities don’t have sufficient access to the internet, many students get their first (or only) look at colleges on their phones. Wisconsin’s Blackhawk Technical College redesigned its website and non-credit course platform for easy access on a mobile device to build bridges for lifelong learners. Check out the new website (best viewed on a mobile device, obviously!).
- Bismarck State College created an enrollment funnel that leads to websites for specific student populations, like adult learners. A college website is often the first place students look to see if a college is a good fit. With a microsite that prioritizes their needs and goals, Bismarck State College in North Dakota recruits adult learners by directing them to a tailored microsite that highlights flexible, accessible, affordable learning. They can choose to pursue a variety of technical certificates or degrees. See how they redesigned the microsite.
- Central Wyoming College made its websites more inclusive by incorporating community languages. Websites often offer the first impression of a college and help students decide if it’s a welcoming environment. Central Wyoming College included languages spoken in the community on its high-traffic pages. Serving the largest Native American student population of the seven community colleges in Wyoming, it leveraged local experts to include the Shoshone and Arapaho languages.
- South Piedmont Community College offers a fully virtual, easily accessible student orientation. Early orientation can give students a strong start in college. Most students use smartphones regularly to learn, connect, and succeed, so a virtual orientation is essential for busy students in rural communities. That’s why North Carolina’s South Piedmont Community College offers an entirely virtual orientation, where students learn about academics, advisors, safety, library services, financial aid, clubs, and more.
- Iowa Lakes Community College updated its branding to build a sense of belonging with specific attention paid to students’ digital and smartphone experiences. Branding plays a vital role in creating community: one look at a college football stadium on an autumn Saturday shows the power of a brand to build connections. Iowa Lakes Community College redesigned its brand identity with a mobile-optimized website and QR codes available on most print materials, launched a “Get to it” marketing campaign to build excitement, and developed a feature to answer the most-asked student questions. View the redesigned, colorful homepage.
- Several schools added AI chatbots to inform and answer questions quickly. Because busy adult students often need support on evenings and weekends, AI chatbots are a great option: They’re available 24/7, provide instant responses, are scalable, and can improve capacity by freeing up employee time for longer discussions with students. AI chatbots can also learn and expand responses as more people use them. South Piedmont Community College, Bismarck State College, and Iowa Lakes Community College all implemented AI chatbots to inform busy students.
[Mary Laphen Pope would love to hear if these strategies work for your schools. She is the strategy officer for access at Lumina Foundation, an independent foundation that helps all Americans learn and train after high school. Laurie Fladd, Ph.D., owns Edvolutions, which designs successful experiences for learners in and out of classrooms. This project was an offshoot of Lumina’s Million Dollar Community College Challenge, which asked colleges how they would transform their brands to better recruit, enroll, and retain today’s students. Nine finalists each won $100,000, and one winner, Madera Community College in California, won $1 million. To learn more, view this Luminaroundtable discussion on community college’s challenges and progress made.]