THANK YOU

Finding schools is only the first step. Our survey shows that once families begin comparing options, they quickly shift from discovery to evaluation. At that stage, students and parents are not asking the same questions. They are both trying to make the right choice, but they use different filters to get there.

Parents and students are not only motivated by different values they search differently. Parents are pragmatic searchers, relying on search engines, ranking sites, ROI calculators, and institutional pages. Students pay the most attention to social media, particularly TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram; after social media they notice email and college fairs.

Finding schools is only the first step. Our survey shows that once families begin comparing options, they quickly shift from discovery to evaluation. At that stage, students and parents are not asking the same questions. They are both trying to make the right choice, but they use different filters to get there.

Parents and students are not only motivated by different values they search differently. Parents are pragmatic searchers, relying on search engines, ranking sites, ROI calculators, and institutional pages. Students pay the most attention to social media, particularly TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram; after social media they notice email and college fairs.