What We Learned at NACAC 2023 About Expanding the Campus Visit Experience

Bandwango was excited to participate in NACAC 2023 this year in Baltimore, and be part of the largest enrollment conference in the world. We enjoyed meeting dedicated enrollment leaders, and hearing about the challenges they face in today’s competitive admission environment. We also were excited to premier the Bandwango Campus Visit Experience Pass, a unique way to feature the attractions, food and culture of your local community to prospective students and their families.

We provided a neat way to try out our technology, with an experience pass free to all attendees featuring three local attractions. Enrollment leaders were eager to think outside the box about their campus visit programs, and we learned a lot.

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Here are some key insights from NACAC 2023 from the Bandwango Team:

• Embracing the local community is a key tool in recruiting for diversity.  Students need to feel welcomed on campus and the local community. If you can make that felt when students come to town, your inclusion goals will greatly benefit.
• The enrollment mission is about yield, retention and student success. Enrollment leaders are thinking not just about getting applications, but emotional investment and a feeling of “fit” that leads to persistence, actual enrollment, and graduation.
• It’s about how you’re different and distinctive. The enrollment “cliff” in the undergraduate student market is causing big stress. And the graduate market is highly competitive. Institutions have to set themselves apart to get students to apply and enroll in today’s market.
• Admission teams face tight resources. And that competition leads to very tight budgets. Staff turnover is also huge, so institutions need solutions that are stable, turnkey and keep on moving even when the team changes.

“Enrollment leaders are eager for innovation,” said Emilie Harris, “Colleges want to set themselves apart from the competition. But enrollment programs are on tight budgets and staff are stressed, so new tools have to be easy and cost-effective. We built our Experience Pass with that in mind.”

The Bandwango Campus Visit Experience Pass is available now, and we’ve helped power millions of experiences across hundreds of communities. Our team is ready to show you how you can expand the visit experience at low cost and low effort for your admission team. Contact us today for a demo, and help make the visit a true experience for the students you need to enroll.