CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa, May 22, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- According to findings from Stamats TeensTALK® survey, two of every five college-bound teens across the country plan to enroll at a college or university located within 30 miles from their home when the 2012 fall semester begins.
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- This represents a remarkable 11 percent increase since the 2010 TeensTALK® study.
Eric Sickler, Stamats associate vice president for client services, revealed findings from the 2012 TeensTALK® study to 500 college and university recruitment marketing professionals and high school guidance counselors attending the MIDWest Association for College Admission Counseling Conference in Dubuque, Iowa, on Monday.
Sickler suggested that teens' increased interest in enrolling in college closer to home is apparently counterbalanced by a drastic decrease in students who are willing to consider enrolling between 121 and 500 miles from home, down from 28 percent in 2010 to 20 percent this year.
- Thisrepresents a drastic decrease of nearly 29 percent over the last two years.
On average, the nation's college-bound teen population plans to enroll at a college or university just more than 200 miles from home according to the study.
"For colleges and universities, the teenage prospective student has never been a more elusive target," Sickler said. " We're seeing any number of revelations that recruitment marketers and high school counselors will find interesting, if not game-changing from this year's study."
In addition to collecting information from college-bound teens about their distance-from-home preferences, key topics addressed in the biannual survey include:
- Absolute and relative importance of specific factors impacting the college-selection decision
- Acceptable and preferred communication channels
- Involvement and relative influence of others in college-selection
- The use of-and expectations for-smartphones and mobile devices in the college search process
Stamats is recognized and respected as the nation's leading higher education integrated marketing thought leader. The 2012 TeensTALK® study was a nationwide telephone survey of 496 high school seniors who will attend college as first-time, first-year students in fall 2012. Based on the national population of college-bound fall 2012 first-time freshmen, the margin of error is plus or minus 4.4 percent at the 95 percent confidence level. Data was collected in February 2012. Sampling was conducted at random (probability sample) to provide a rigorous data set for accurate assessment of the college-selection process.
SOURCE Stamats, Inc.
