Mobile-first design: Meet higher ed students where they are

Guest post by Anne Stefanyk, Founder and CEO of Kanopi Studios

Between the impending enrollment cliff and the ever-changing funding situation, the higher education industry is in transition. To mitigate challenges, it should be as easy as possible for future, current, and past students to engage with your institution. 

Mobile phones now account for 62% of the world’s web traffic, and 95.9% of internet users use their phones to access the internet at least some of the time. Therefore, your institution must adopt mobile-first strategies to support students throughout their application process, their time on campus, and into their future as alumni. This article will discuss mobile-first design through the student lifecycle and offer best practices.

Recruitment and application season

Your institution’s first opportunity to make a good impression on future students is when they are still in the research phase of their higher education journey. At this point, they’ll be looking up information about different colleges and universities, the programs that most interest them, and thinking about what their lives might look like on your campus. 

Your website needs to be engaging, functional, and attractive from the first moment that a potential student lands on your homepage. 

Best practices for mobile-first design in the recruitment and application process include: 

• Make it easy and intuitive to navigate to pages with information about application requirements, deadlines, and other important information.
• Optimize any online forms for mobile use with responsive dropdown menus, auto-fill options, and simplified information.
• Offer on-demand virtual tours for students who want to explore your campus without the commitment and expense of an in-person visit.
• Prioritize accessibility-first design for both mobile and desktop experiences, which improves user navigability for all and boosts your website quality in the eyes of search engines.

In the modern higher ed landscape, characterized by “intensified competition for a shrinking pool of college-aged students,” your institution can use mobile-first design to give itself the best chance of attracting the right students to your programs.

For more guidance, Kanopi’s guide to the best college and university websites provides examples of high-performing websites. Review these sites to see how universities have incorporated accessibility, creativity, functionality, and other essential elements to effectively engage their audiences.

Enrollment

Once your application season is over and decisions are released, your school has to compete with the other institutions to which potential students have applied. This decision is a huge turning point in a young adult’s life, and they have a lot of different factors to balance, like cost, distance from home, their friends, the career they’re hoping to pursue, school ranking, and extracurricular experiences. 

Your institution can use mobile-first design, as well as other technological advancements, to increase your student enrollment. Mobile-first design empowers potential students to make decisions on their own time. 

For example, once they’ve been accepted, you can provide students with a link to your mobile-optimized website. There, they can log into your school’s portal, review the different courses they can sign up for, research the right major for themselves, and evaluate what their campus experience might be like. 

Potential students want to feel like they’re wanted at the school they attend. In addition to mobile-first website design, incorporate best practices like interactivity and personalization into their experience. Remind them about important dates and deadlines, inform them about future opportunities to meet people and get involved, and make it clear that your institution would be better for having them. 

Finally, make sure that it’s easy to commit to your school and pay their deposit online. Once they’ve made their decision, it should be as smooth as possible for them to secure their spot and finalize their attendance.

Student life

Pursuing a degree is a busy time for any student. Mobile-first design ensures that your institution can effectively communicate with your student body and allows them to find necessary resources when they need them. 

Whether they’re walking to their next class, in a dining hall without their computer, or lying in bed at night, they need to be able to answer any of their pressing questions about class sign-ups, drop-add periods, or student resources. Mobile-first design means that they can answer those questions easily. 

Once someone has joined your campus, it’s important to go mobile-first for their experience to ensure that they are engaged and supported. Critical opportunities for mobile-first engagement include: 

• Orientation and settling into life on campus
• Signing up for classes, housing, and meal plans
• Campus events, both student body-wide and more niche
• Emergency notifications, like during severe weather incidents
• Educational and career support through a career center or alumni mentoring

Though regular website maintenance is critical for your institution’s ongoing engagement with its students, it’s also important to remember mobile-first design for the other platforms that your student uses. This could include your health center and student insurance platform, payment platforms for parking and housing, or your learning management system. 

Prioritizing mobile-first engagement makes it easier for your students to get the support and information they need, keeping them engaged and confident.

Alumni relations

A student’s relationship with your institution doesn’t end when they graduate, but it does change. Gravyty’s 2024 Alumni Trends Report found that 60% of alumni use virtual networks to connect with other alumni, and alums who are active in those virtual networks are more likely to donate back to your institution. 

This report found that the programs that alumni found most valuable were: 

• Career support
• Networking
• Communications and updates
• Sporting and regional events

However, “of the 39% of alumni that don’t utilize their alumni’s career or advancement services, the top reason cited is ‘the services offered don’t meet my needs.’” To support your alumni engagement efforts, build mobile-first opportunities for connection and support through mentorship programs, regional or affinity group gatherings, exclusive alumni social media groups, and ongoing text or email communications.

Strengthening alumni relationships with their alma mater, even when they’ve left campus behind, will require adapting to their changing communication habits and preferences. Going mobile-first is a critical step for staying connected.

Conclusion

Changes are coming to higher education, but they are not necessarily a bad thing. Adapting to students’ changing communication styles, adopting new digital platforms, and offering a personalized and convenient way to stay engaged will ensure that your institution is ready to meet the new generation of students where they are.