““The PRTA team ring several thousand students over the summer break. We have had a 10 per cent increase in enrolments this year so the conversion strategy of getting them to take a tour and then enrolling is working well.” John Kauter, manager of marketing and public affairs, UNE HIGHLIGHTS The University of New England has engaged PRTA since 2005 to contact all year 12 students who indicated an interest in their university. PRTA rings several thousand students in December and invites them to attend campus tours. The number of enrolments last year increased by 10 per cent. PRTA also calls students who have deferred to remind them of the advantages of attending UNE.

Telemarketing / Student Acquisition

University of New England

Enrolling with the right partner
These days it is more important than ever to have a good education and the competition between tertiary institutions for students remains fierce. With so many options for places to study, universities need to be as innovative as they can to attract students to their campuses.

The University of New England, located in Armidale is no exception. The institution was the first Australian university to be established outside a capital city and is renowned for its teaching, training and research facilities. More than 75,000 people now hold qualifications from UNE and its academic profile has been built to the point where it now has more than 500 PhD candidates.

To attract students, the University of New England runs a number of marketing campaigns designed to highlight the many advantages it offers. As part of its overall marketing strategy, it also runs a telemarketing campaign, which involves contacting all year 12 students who professed an interest in enrolling in its courses.

To assist with its campaign, the university engaged telemarketing specialist PRTA and the results have led to a relationship that has been ongoing for four years.

PRTA’s role is to contact all preference holders. These are year 12 students who have listed the University of New England as one of their preferred universities. The preference ranking is irrelevant; the students just need to have UNE on their list to be contacted.

John Kauter is the university’s manager of marketing and public affairs. He says PRTA’s role is to encourage students to visit the university.

“We provide PRTA with a database of all preference holders and they contact them and invite them to take part in the campus tours that we offer in December,” he said.

“The PRTA team ring several thousand students over the summer break. They provide us with feedback on who responded and who asked questions about the tours. We have had a 10 per cent increase in enrolments this year so the conversion strategy of getting them to take a tour and then enrolling is working well.”

Kauter says each year the number of student enrolments has increased and PRTA has played a large role in that through reminding students about the qualities and features of the university.

“We also use PRTA for other services and are getting very good results,” Kauter says. “One exercise involves calling students that have deferred their enrolment for up to two years and ensuring that our university remains top of mind for them for when they do decide to take up an offer of study.”

Kauter says he is very pleased with the efficient and effective services offered by PRTA,

“We expect we will continue to be a customer of PRTA for some time to come.”