Use of Surveying & Online Survey Tools in College Marketing & Public Relations study looks closely at how college administrators in admission, marketing, enrollment management, public relations and other marketing-oriented departments are using surveying and online survey tools to improve performance.  The study helps its readers to answer questions such as: what is the role of online survey tools in college marketing and public relations? What services are colleges using and how much are they spending?  How much do they spend on traditional market research and surveying services and to what extent have they been replaced by use of online survey tools?  Which populations are being surveyed the most and how have colleges benefited?  What percentage and types of surveys are done by phone, by mail, in-person or online?  How much has surveying increased or decreased in recent years?  How are surveys archived and accessed and by whom?

Just a few of the report’s many findings are that: 

• 75% of private colleges in the sample had a paid subscription to Surveymonkey.

• The range of annual spending on online survey tools by the public colleges in the sample was $150 to $15,000.

• Use of survey tools has led to a significant increase in the overall volume of surveying by colleges.. A research university participant puts it this way: “We know         more about the value of our degrees in the real world, and how people feel about our brand and the experience they have/had here - plus logistics like cost,         location, program delivery models, etc.”

• More than 51% of the colleges sampled maintain an archive, directory or repository for their surveys.  Community colleges and 4-year colleges were much         more likely than research-oriented colleges and universities to do so.