One of the best ways to judge a business is by the satisfaction of its customers. So instead of making decisions based on how to improve their US News rankings, what if colleges did the following:
1. Send an email to your students with just two requests:
On a scale of 1-10, how likely are you to recommend this school to a friend?
0 = No way
10 = Absolutely
If
you have time to tell us why you gave us the ranking you did, we’d love
to hear more. Your responses are being shared with the deans of every
academic department, with the admissions and financial aid offices, and
with the president of the university. And they’re going to read them.
All of them.
2. Ask the question four times: (1) At the conclusion of the student’s freshman year, (2) On the day of his or her college graduation, (3) Two years after graduation, (4) Five years after graduation.
The smart college would engage with its responders like a smart business would with customers. An unhappy graduate should get a call from a dean to ask how they let the student down. A student who was thrilled could share what parts of the experience were particularly memorable and effective for him.
Colleges could then use students’ feedback to drive decision-making. Whatever your responders loved, find ways to do more of it and to bring in kids who are predisposed to appreciate those qualities, too. If you’re failing in one or more areas, either fix them, or stop doing them altogether and be public about it so people know what they’re buying.
By reaching out to the students over a nearly ten-year period, you’d get feedback on everything from dorm food to career prep to whether or not the student loans were worth it.
How easy would it be? You don’t even need to construct a fancy online survey. Just send an email and read the responses. Then get to the hard work of facing your feedback.
Colleges would learn a lot. And so would we.