A world-renowned public policy school was struggling with applicant retention, alumni engagement, and employer recruitment. The school wanted to understand candidates’ perception of its program, and program areas that needed attention.

University Audience Profile

ROLE

Research lead

TEAM

2 supporting researchers

TIMELINE

4 weeks

Process

People profile map

First, I needed to understand the needs and wants of the 3 key audience groups for this school:

  • Prospects & current students

  • Alumni

  • Employers

I then created a people profile map that defined expectations, motivations, and concerns for each audience group by analyzing data from previous research (conducted by the school):

  • 2 focus groups (prospective and current students)

  • 2 school experience surveys (prospective and current students)

  • 17 in-depth interviews with school’s director and career services, alumni, and employers

🧑‍💻

Prospects & students

• Expects to gain quantitative and analytics skills, and real-world experience

• Expects support from school’s career services, engaged faculty, and ROI on education

• Motivated by building skills to pivot or advance career, along with experiential learning and non-competitive culture

• Concerned with job prospects, rigorous coursework, lack of diversity and sense of student community

🧑‍💼

Alumni

• Expect engagement with students and other alumni, and strong relationships between the school and employer

• Motivated to stay engaged with school for networking opportunities and school’s brand recognition

• Concerned with lack of continued learning and limited opportunities to engage with the school

🏢

Employers

• Expect candidates to have verbal and written communication skills, along with ability to conduct research and provide real-time insights and measurable impact

• Motivated to hire candidates from this school for strong quantitative and analytical skills and grit

• Concerned that candidates from this school lack soft skills and sufficient hands-on (not theoretical) experience

“The rigor and flexibility of the coursework means I can learn more deeply where I care most. ”
— Student
“The university is in the middle of the city, which is a laboratory for just about anything. And the multi-faceted training means you’re not specializing in one field.”
— Alumni
“Candidates stand out for their very concrete, practical, analytical methodology to move an issue forward. But if you’re just good at the backroom crunching numbers, then you’re not really a decision maker.”
— Employer
“My degree spoke for itself. With the university name, I feel it has given me more opportunities.”
— Alumni

Value map

To define what the school provides to attract and retain students, I created a value map that organized the schools’s value into:

  • Offerings - programs or features offered by the school

  • Drivers - how the school produces outcomes and benefits based on audience needs

  • Solutions - how the school’s programs, services, and communications alleviate audience concerns

⭐

Offerings

• Brand recognition and prestige

• Curriculum: Focus on quantitative and analytical skills, experiential learning

• Location: Local community ties for real-world application and research opportunities

💪

Drivers

• Curriculum: Academic rigor with world-class faculty and guest speakers

• Career support: Leadership development , employer relationships

• Culture: Diverse student body, tight-knit student community

🎯

Solutions

• Job ROI: Analytical-based approach valued in job market

• Networking: Alumni-student mentorship program

• Culture: Small cohorts, diverse student organizations

Competitive analysis

To identify the school’s key differentiators and its positioning in the market, I conducted a competitive analysis with 5 similar institutions across the following attributes:

  • Mission

  • Messaging

  • Curriculum and programs

  • Career outcomes

  • Alumni presence

🚀

Key differentiators

• Global brand recognition combined with Nobel Laureate faculty

• Interdisciplinary approach to public policy rooted in data and impact

• Experiential, hands-on learning opportunities with communities in the city

• Award-winning alumni mentorship program

💡

Areas for opportunity

• No courses to develop leadership skills

• Weak presence of international policy despite breadth of curriculum

• Limited opportunities for alumni engagement (no continued education, sparse events for alumni outreach)

Insights

The research uncovered disconnects between what the school offered and actual/perceived experience by prospects and students, as well as noticeable gaps in the schools’ offerings. Despite the school's efforts to address student and employer feedback over the past five years, these insights revealed that the tangible improvements were not yet evident.

🤔

Disconnects

• World-class faculty is actually unengaged or unresponsive to students outside of class

• Students have negative, unhelpful experiences with career services

• Employers have the misconception that the school is focused only on theoretical education and lacks experiential opportunities'

• Students and alumni express lack of community and outreach despite the school’s increased programming in these areas

😔

Gaps

• Lack of leadership programming highlights employers’ hesitancy in hiring graduates from the school

• Lack of continued education for alumni hinders alumni’s appetite to further grow their knowledge and connect with the school

Impact

Upon seeing value in the research and insights, the client engaged our team for additional scope of work, which included designing the school’s value proposition and updating the school’s marketing and communication strategy.