Understanding, Supporting, and Engaging Today’s Prospective Parents/Guardians

The parents/guardians of today’s college-bound students are diverse in backgrounds, college experiences, financial situations, and college preferences for their children. However, recent research does reveal key insights that can help you grow in your understanding of and engagement with these important family members.

Demographics

Today’s parents/guardians largely fall divided across the Gen X and Millennial line, with more Millennials becoming parents/guardians of high schoolers each year. Mostly in their 40s and 50s, these family members are increasingly comfortable with technology.

Demographics of parent/guardian participants in the Eduventures® 2022 Prospective Parent Research™.

When considering college for their students, the majority of these parents/guardians (87%, Eduventures® Prospective Parent Research™) have had at least some college education themselves. While this means they have some comfort and familiarity with the search and application processes, these processes have evolved since their time in school.

Additionally, on average, today’s parents/guardians plan to send three children to college (Eduventures Prospective Parent Research). Your college may be working with students who already have siblings in college, giving those families even more knowledge about the college enrollment process.

Preferences

So what do these technology-friendly, Millennial/Gen X-cuspers with some familiarity about the college search process prefer for their childrens’ college searches and decisions?

When parents/guardians are weighing in on colleges, they focus mostly on cost and reputation. These two factors bring out families’ strongest preferences, with proximity to home, college type, career, and major playing a lesser, but still important role. 

Eduventures’ 2022 Prospective Parent Research reveals the top preferences of today’s parents/guardians in college search.

When considering how to market your college’s reputation, know that parents/guardians say that they largely rely on rankings, but other factors are also important—like being known among employers and the community and high starting salaries. Get creative with how you can show off one of these reputation indicators if your college is not in the top rankings.

While the figure above reveals common parent/guardian preferences, your recruitment and marketing can be strengthened by understanding how there are distinct types of parents/guardians in the college search process. 

In chapter 3, we’ll go into more detail about five specific Parent/Guardian Mindsets that reveal families’ preferences and motivations so that you can speak directly to what each type of parent/guardian cares about most.

Involvement

Combining both a familiarity with college and a strong preference for cost considerations, today’s parents/guardians are often stepping up their involvement in their students’ college searches and have shared that they prefer that colleges reach out to them in the early stages of college search, rather than after submitting applications.

In fact, nearly half of parents/guardians are already thinking about colleges for their children by the ninth grade. Additionally, parents whose children have two or more “access factors”—low-income, first-generation, or underrepresented minority—begin significantly earlier. This research highlights how important it is for your college to begin engaging with families of students as early as possible, especially as you try to support and enroll students with more access factors.

When asked how involved today’s parents/guardians are in their childrens’ college searches overall, 71% of them share that they are at least 50-50 partners with their students, if not leading the way. With most parents/guardians being at least half of the decision-making power in college search, it’s crucial that enrollment teams intentionally involve these family members in their recruitment and directly address their specific concerns. 

Eduventures’ 2024 Prospective Parent Research reveals how involved parents/guardians say they are in their students’ college searches. 

Continue on to the next chapter to learn more about the roles that parents/guardians are taking on in their students’ college searches and how your team can support them in each of these roles.