Recruitment success in a growing market with limited funds

When it comes to recruiting transfer students, enrollment professionals live with two contradicting truths:

• The transfer market offers considerable potential; and
• There’s rarely enough money (or time) to thoroughly engage and cultivate this population.

The good news lies in the market’s potential. Each fall, more than one million U.S. college students transfer institutions. This number rose to 1.2 million in fall 2024 (per the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center), comprising 13.1% of non-first year enrollment.

The struggle comes from limited funds, overworked staff, and the continually changing digital landscape. This, of course, brings us to the main question: Is there an effective and affordable strategy for transfer recruitment?

For us, the answer is yes—even with a limited budget.

Timing is Key

The goal is to reach prospective transfers (and parents) with timely messages. Spring semester is the perfect time to launch a campaign. Students and families have had time to discuss and plan. A 12-week campaign can extend into the summer, catching additional late-to-enroll students. Even a four-week summer campaign can yield results!

Messaging Matters

Campaign messages should inform and inspire. In addition to using branded and nonbranded keywords, our content centers on the following themes: quality/success; community; ease of transfer; and affordability. We also utilize a storytelling approach and interview current transfer students. Their words and experiences are built into the content for authentic peer-to-peer communication.

Budget Options

The bulk of your budget should go to your media purchase, not agency fees. It seems obvious, but it’s worth stating. Your media purchase amount determines the campaign’s depth and reach. This is something we have factored into our work (see our transfer success with Menlo College).

At Calculate, we offer transfer packages for budgets of all sizes, with pre-set and affordable agency fees. Options include the following:

Search Engine Marketing Transfer Campaign

If your transfer budget is limited, SEM is most effective as it delivers prospects who are actively looking to transfer. The cost of a 12-week campaign on Google Ads with four messaging themes is $3,350 plus media buy.

Omnichannel Transfer Campaign

This comprehensive 12-week transfer campaign includes Social Media Marketing (SMM) on Facebook/Instagram, Search Engine Marketing (SEM) on Google Ads, and programmatic/display banner marketing. The cost of the campaign with four messaging themes is $6,500 plus media buy.

Both packages include copywriting, design, dedicated landing pages, campaign and GTM setup, daily monitoring and optimization, reporting and access to a live dashboard.