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Head Count

Admissions and enrollment.

More Students Turn to Social Media to Inform Their College Search

By Beckie Supiano September 4, 2013

The share of prospective students who used social-media Web sites to learn about colleges they were considering has more than doubled in the last four years, according to the results of a survey released on Wednesday. Even so, a majority of the students surveyed said they had not used such sites in their college search.

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The share of prospective students who used social-media Web sites to learn about colleges they were considering has more than doubled in the last four years, according to the results of a survey released on Wednesday. Even so, a majority of the students surveyed said they had not used such sites in their college search.

Forty-four percent of prospective students surveyed in 2012 said they had used social-media sites to inform their college search, up from 18 percent in 2008. That’s according to a report based on the latest student poll from the Art & Science Group, a higher-education consulting firm.

Of the students who did use social media in their search process, only half said the sites had influenced their decisions of where to apply.

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Prospective students who did make social media part of their college search tended to use the sites to learn about a college’s social scene and student body rather than its academics or reputation.

The report is based on a random national sample of SAT takers who planned to attend four-year colleges. It was conducted in November and December 2012. Thirty-nine thousand prospective students were invited to take the survey, and 1,138 participated. Not all of those students answered the questions about social-media use. Responses were weighted by gender, race, and region.

We welcome your thoughts and questions about this article. Please email the editors or submit a letter for publication.
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About the Author
Beckie Supiano
Beckie Supiano is a senior writer for The Chronicle of Higher Education, where she covers teaching, learning, and the human interactions that shape them. She is also a co-author of The Chronicle’s free, weekly Teaching newsletter that focuses on what works in and around the classroom. Email her at beckie.supiano@chronicle.com.
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