TOPICS: Chatbot for University   Chatbot for Website    Building a chatbot   

University chatbot: Helping Students Acquire Information and Enroll

University chatbot is an effective and inexpensive way to onboard new students. Some industries rely on repeat business, while others require new leads. Higher education is an example of the latter. Universities need a steady stream of new enrollments in order to stay in business – more so on account of the rising competition. In order to secure these enrollments, educational institutes must dispense detailed, accurate, and helpful information to potential students – a task that online chatbots can help them accomplish.

The following are some ways in which university chatbots can help prospective applicants acquire information about courses and facilities, thus encouraging them to enroll as students.

1. Chatbot answering frequently asked questions

Before applying for admission to a university, or even placing it on their shortlist, a potential student needs information. This information is typically a mixed bag of details, including the specifics of the courses or subjects they’re interested in, the university’s eligibility criteria for application, the admission procedure and timeline, and so on. Today, a growing number of students also look to get an idea of the university’s learning model right at the start, in order to gauge whether the academic microclimate would be in sync with their own preferences.

Almost all potential students have the same set of queries at the start, so if you feed the answers to these ‘frequently asked questions’ into your AI bot’s chat script, you can get the information across to them over the course of a simple conversation.

It’s no secret that one-on-one chats are more effective than emails or phone calls, when it comes to getting positive responses from people. They are also more effective in dispensing information than the traditional route wherein the visitor has to manually browse through webpages. In the light of these benefits, universities can significantly up their lead generation figures, and even their enrollment numbers in the long run, by building chatbots that can funnel relevant information to their prospective students.

2. Chatbot scheduling campus tours

It is easier for potential students to finalize their decision to enroll at a university that they have visited in person, as opposed to one that they can only visualize based on information from a website. Universities that offer campus tours thus have a competitive advantage.

Besides dispensing information on courses, admissions, and uni facilities, your university chatbot can also help schedule these campus visits. Potential students will appreciate the simplicity of the booking process, which could just involve filling out a quick form and choosing one of the available dates and time slots.

Placing a campus tour scheduling service on the menu of options that your chatbot offers your website’s visitors, also reads like an invitation for them to visit your institute. This helps your university make better first impressions, as it indicates transparency and a willingness to offer information and assistance.

3. Chabot providing information on scholarships and financial assistance

Often, even serious applicants can opt out of applying to a course if they find the tuition fee too steep. In fact, several universities deal with this problem on a regular basis. They receive applications from promising candidates, who don’t show up for enrollment after being offered admission, simply because they didn’t have the funds to pursue the course.

To counter this, it is important that your prospective students have the requisite information on any scholarships, sponsorships or financing options that your university offers. This information can also be fed into your online chatbot’s script. Students can then ask your bot simple questions about available scholarships and financial assistance. The chatbot can provide this information, pull out relevant documentation from your website for them to read, or register a follow-up request for specific enquiries.

4.Chatbot offering insights into campus life

The final step in the process of getting potential candidates to enroll as students in your university, involves guiding them on the ways of campus life. New students can often find university campuses intimidating, and the fact that there is so much for them to find out and familiarize themselves with often aggravates the situation.

In such cases, the knowledge that any basic information they need is available 24/7, right through the chat window on your website or mobile app, can encourage these students to complete their enrollment formalities and prevent them from dropping out. This also equips them with basic information about the campus even before the semester starts.

If you have questions about chatbot development in general, or about building chatbots for colleges and universities in particular, feel free to reach out to us.