StudyQA — Parents' influence on choosing the right university

Parents' influence on choosing the right university

Choosing the right university is an important milestone in the life of every applicant. However, not just in their lives. The immense number of things can affect the student’s decision: from the prestige of university and other basic criteria usually taken into account by applicants to the emotional impulses and sometimes quite bizarre arguments like “the best climate for my endearing doggie”. Be that as it may, among these decision-making factors it is highly likely to encounter the common one that almost always makes a difference. This factor is parents’ opinion. Evidently, parents do not necessary determine the student’s choice, but there is no doubt that somehow their point has a considerable influence on the final decision. Concerning Russian realities, parents’ opinion fairly often becomes the deciding one, that is why the foreign universities should pay heed to the factors, which determine parents’ preferences. What are these factors? How the universities can reach the parents?

Educational return on investment

Economic terms may be quite appropriate to be mentioned there, inasmuch as the parents widely consider the university as the investment of money and time in the essential stage of fulfilling their child’s potential. The expediency of high expenses is determined by the expectations of higher profit, which has a certain image in parents’ mind. Actually, we can divide into two parts the factors that parents frequently bear in mind while helping their children to opt for the right university: so-called “costs” and “revenues”.

“Costs”

In the “costs” we are bound to reflect the following points:

  1. The cost of living in foreign country.  This factor is among the crucial ones that determine the financial affordability to study abroad. The prices for the food, transport, accommodation if the dormitory is not provided or does not suit. Exchange rate is also taken into account.
  2. The cost of studying at university. If the idea of getting a grant has not worked out and there is no way but pay for the studying, the possibility of fee-based education will be meticulously considered by parents in terms of capability of family’s budget to cover fee expenses.
  3. The time. Studying is not only investment of money but also of the time, which may be far more valuable occasionally. Indeed, the studying at university is always associated with the period of time that is about to be spent on it, therefore the experienced and insightful parents will not avoid the time factor within the comparative analysis of pros and cons.

“Revenues”

The next group is called “revenues”. Here are the factors that have a positive influence on a decision-making process:

  1. The opportunities after graduation. Probably, it is the most significant point that matters to parents. Obviously, the process of studying should be more than fruitful. In parents’ view, this utility is measured with the student’s chances to apply for a stable, actual and well-paid job that will guarantee his prospects to a certain degree. The reputation and prestige of university, possibilities of internships and agreements with leading companies in terms of employment after graduation play not the least part here.   
  2. Discounts and grants. Grants and discounts are the main things that allow families to cut so-called “costs”. Getting a grant or sufficient discount quite often becomes a deciding factor for the parents that gives them a certain notion of whether their child is going to study abroad or not. The financial aspect of studying is remaining the key one, as without sufficient amount of money it is pointless to count on the promising future after graduation not even having the possibility to begin studies.
  3. Dormitories. Dormitories also help to reduce considerably the expenses and to provide students with affordable accommodation. By the way, the dormitories abroad have certain chances to surprise Russian students with its quality in comparison with Russian dormitories.
  4. Safety and quality of life in the country. Parents tend to think that it is essential to provide their children with the favourable environment for studying. In fact, the safety of a particular city or country is always taken into account by parents when they compare different universities. The safer place will help students to focus more on their urgent needs rather than on external factors, which have nothing to do with acquiring knowledge.
  5. Mentors. Probably, it is not the deciding factor but it is always a good advantage for both, students and universities, to have the system of mentors that helps newcomers with adaption. Actually, parents usually take heed of this opportunity and sometimes it also counts as other factors.

How to reach parents?

There are different ways how it is possible to reach and attract their attention. Undoubtedly, communication through the Internet prevails today, thus the primal contact with the target audience (parents in this case) is highly likely to happen there. Social medias are the perfect instruments to catch their eye, site – to broaden and enrich parents’ image of studying in the particular university, webinars – to give them opportunity to ask necessary questions and find out up-to-date information about everything that parents need. For instance, Facebook is presumably the most popular social network for those parents who keep pace with time and try to be open-minded in terms of choosing the best option for their children. We should not forget the most popular Russian-speaking social network called “Vkontakte” that may be also quite efficient way of promotion among both applicants and their parents. Besides, a lot of parents can use Instagram and YouTube to cast a glance and get acquainted with the inner atmosphere of university, to satisfy their curiosity how lectures are organised and many other things. Concerning non-Internet channels of communication, traditional open days and education shows remain quite popular today. They still gather many parents in the red-letter days and provide them with necessary information. On the other hand, it is not always possible to be in the right place at the right time, so universities that use all their promotional Internet and non-Internet potential properly have more chances to come across and attract parents’ attention.