What are the key factors that Higher Educational Institutions should look for, what’s optional, and what’s a must have for your HEI?
To get the best out of your admissions platform, it’s good to consider what your expectations are and what system can best meet them. Admissions is a complex business, and each institution has a variety of needs and requirements. What is important to you might be of less significance to your colleagues in another HEI. A strong admissions platform should provide these various needs to all its clients, no matter how intricate they may be. Between 2000 and 2017, university admissions almost doubled. Ireland has an increasingly highly educated population, and our high standard of education means that more and more international students are looking to study here – 14,142 in 2019 (Irish Examiner). These increasing student numbers mean that you need a robust and dynamic admissions platform. But what should your HEI consider when choosing that platform? What is important to you and your institution and how should your chosen platform reflect this?
Assessment Consistency
In the modern global education market thousands of students apply for universities in Ireland. Assessing and evaluating these applications is time consuming, and when stretched over various departments and administrators, mistakes can be made. It can be hard to maintain consistency across the board. Look for a platform built on a system of checks to help achieve consistency and results.
Green Admissions
We are all trying to reduce our carbon footprint and this an important issue for your students. Did you know that switching to the cloud can have a huge impact on your company’s carbon footprint? According to a report from AgileIT it is calculated that cloud computing is 93% more energy efficient and has 98% lower carbon emissions than on-site data centers. Let’s consider the paper trail a university application can create; it can be approximated that one single application to a university can run to twenty pages. Moving to a cloud based system eliminates this paper trail, making your college greener and more energy efficient.
Applicant Accessibility
HEI applications require a lot of information. Not all your applicants will be tech savvy and so it’s essential that your application forms are clearly laid out and user friendly so as not to deter any potential students. Your platform should also support a variety of document types. PAC Apply can support documents in fields as varied as jpg, excel, word documents– and we convert them all into pdf files for your convenience. You can even view the entire application as one pdf file.
Data Reporting
Data analysis provides a snapshot of how your University is performing. You will need robust data reporting systems for all kinds of things – for financial reporting, to see what kind of students your HEI is attracting and how long the process is taking. By analyzing this data, educators can make more informed decisions. A good platform should provide options to report the data gathered in various formats – charts, pdf files, and PowerPoint presentations.
Payment Portals
Does your university require a deposit to secure the applicants acceptance? Consider a platform that can facilitate this payment for you through their portal, saving your fees office time and effort.
Multiple Users
Perhaps your HEI runs courses that take place off site or in collaboration with another college. Chose a platform with experience in creating application forms that can be used by multiple colleges. PAC Apply have years of experience overseeing the Professional Master of Education system, wherein students can apply to multiple universities thorough one form.
Support for System Users
When you first install a new platform you will need a strong support team available to your administers AND your applicants. You should chose an admissions platform that looks out for your students and is there to answer any queries about the process they may have. A strong support team for applicants also frees up time for your admissions team to focus on their tasks.
PAC Apply can offer your institutions these options and more; we are a modern, secure and green admissions platform. At the end of the day, your college wants to attract more students. A modern, accessible and easy to use platform ultimately attracts more applicants, increasing your enrollments.
Why not book a no obligations demo with us today and see how we can improve your admissions platform.