Going to College without Going to Campus: A Case Study of Online Student Recruitment

Despite the financial benefits generally associated with expanding student enrollment through online education, many institutions may not know how to recruit online students. This case study drew upon interviews with 27 administrators from four public research universities in order to better understand how to recruit students for exclusively online degree programs. Findings revealed that administrators identify the characteristics and needs of prospective online students, outline which non-academic services can be outsourced to alleviate cost burdens, identify ways to leverage the institutional brand as indistinguishable from the individual online program, and prioritize personalized student interactions throughout the online student recruitment process.