One question we can almost always guarantee will be asked in a research presentation is, “How does this finding compare to other schools you work with?” You asked, and we delivered.
Working with more than 200 colleges and universities over the past decade has allowed us to develop a normative database on findings from several standard questions we ask across institutions. Now we can show clients how their data compares to other schools of similar size and type. This article is part one (of many!) where we will share general insight gathered from our work over the years.
Today’s topics: response rates and Net Promoter Score (NPS)!
Survey Response Rate, also known as the completion rate or return rate, is a standard research calculation that measures the number of people who completed the survey divided by the number of people in the sample (read more about response rates in my previous article). Below are the average response rates we see for some typical audiences in higher ed surveys (for each one, I’ve noted how many schools were included in the calculation):
1) Prospective undergraduate students: 3% (for 71 schools)
No difference between public and private prospective undergraduate response rates
2) Prospective graduate students: 4% (38 schools)
No difference between public and private prospective graduate response rates
3) Current students: 17% (106 schools)
Public schools’ average response rate is 12%; privates' is 20%
4) Faculty/staff: 35% (95 schools)
Public schools’ average response rate is 28%; privates' is 37%
5) Alumni: 10% (111 schools)
Public schools’ average response rate is 8%; privates' is 12%
It is important to know that response rate has a lot to do with the incentive offered and the closeness of the audience’s relationship with your institution (so for example, faculty/staff response rates are usually higher than prospects’). And incentives play a role, too: a $20 Amazon.com Gift Card, or better yet, a trip to Hawaii for every participant, would produce a much higher response rate than no incentive at all.
Net Promoter Score (NPS) measures respondents’ likelihood of recommending the institution. You can read more about the NPS in Elizabeth Johnson’s June 2016 article. For this article, all scores are calculated on the likelihood that a specific audience will recommend their school to a prospective undergraduate/graduate student. Like we often say in our research, alumni are your biggest brand ambassadors and cheerleaders, and the proof is below.
1) Average NPS of current students recommending to:
A prospective undergraduate: 20 (34 schools)
A prospective graduate: 10 (25 schools)
2) Average NPS of faculty/staff recommending to:
A prospective undergraduate: 25 (25 schools)
A prospective graduate: 8 (17 schools)
3) Average NPS of alumni recommending to:
A prospective undergraduate: 44 (39 schools)
A prospective graduate: 31 (22 schools)
While these NPS scores are high, we typically advise clients that anything over 0 is in good standing. And with NPS it is important to look at where your audiences fall across all points on the 10-point Likert scale. Because NPS only calculates promoters (9 and 10) and detractors (1-6) we are missing the passive audience (7 and 8). So sometimes it is simply moving your passives (7 and 8) to promoters (9 and 10) to completely change your NPS.
Now, gather your research report(s) and see where you fall on these factors. Are you above or below our average on response rate and NPS? Curious about how you compare on other factors like unaided awareness, familiarity, or academic quality? Or how other external audiences like counselors and employers/business leaders perform? We can’t give away all our secrets in this article, but be sure to keep up with our newsletter, and we will share more findings in some upcoming issues.
