For a college-skeptical generation, parents can provide a helpful push toward community colleges.
Gen Z is already halfway through college—which is to say that while its youngest members are just entering high school, the leading edge of this generational cohort are already forging their post-college careers. At this point, several trends are clear about those currently considering their ongoing education options—and their future careers. The first is that Gen Z are less willing to pay the steep price of college tuition than previous generations, even though they still value a college education and believe it’s important. The second is that, in response to the cost of college, more of Gen Z are willing to search for alternative educational paths—including community college and trade school.
However, while Gen Z is on board with community college and trade school, parents are another matter. The recent Blue Collar Report from Jobber indicated that while there was substantial interest in trade careers among young adults, parents still retained many negative stereotypes about these jobs and preferred their children pursue a college degree. Recent surveys from Gallup also indicate that many members of Gen Z feel heavy pressure from their parents to get into a good college.
Recently, community colleges have seen an uptick in enrollment—and while it isn’t yet enough to make up the ground lost in recent years, the renewed interest in two-year degrees, certification, and transfer programs is a sign of hope. But to build on this success, community colleges need to make their case not just to prospective students but to their parents as well. Here’s how marketing can play a role.
1. Focus on job quality, employment opportunities, and salaries.
For most parents, the push toward a university education has to do with wanting to see their children positioned to flourish in life. However, by narrowing their criteria for success to only certain colleges or types of careers, they may be neglecting other ways their children can find fulfillment, such as through a career path that better matches their interests and aptitudes.
By publishing detailed information about hiring demand, wages, and career progression, community colleges can help parents see how a certificate or two-year program can help their child reach the destination of a stable, fulfilling career, even if it’s by a different path than the parents expected.
2. Dispel stereotypes about trade jobs and community colleges.
The reality is that many “blue collar” jobs look very different today than they did for previous generations. As new technologies enter the field, jobs are becoming more technical, more clean, and more safe. Workers entering these fields have more opportunities to use their creative or critical thinking skills, which allows them to ask for higher salaries. And in a world increasingly driven by AI and automation, many trades—such as plumber, electrician, or carpenter—are proving hard to replace. Demand for many of these jobs is high and is likely to remain so for years to come.
Community colleges should use their marketing resources to highlight ways in which local jobs run against the mold. If showing what these careers can look like helps students envision themselves in a certain career path, these materials can also help parents think about their children’s futures differently.
3. Share stories from successful tradespeople.
Parents are much more likely to be receptive to the idea of vocational school or community college if the message is coming from someone with experience in the field. And there’s good news on this front: recent reporting from Forbes indicates that 91% of tradespeople are satisfied with their jobs and satisfied in their choice of career. Interviewing graduates or surveying current tradespeople in your area can make a strong statement in support of community college education.
4. Navigate budget discussions with care.
The cost of college education is one of the biggest sticking points for Gen Z. They’re anxious about student debt, worried about white collar job stability, and skeptical that the traditional path toward career stability will work for them. All these factors make Gen Z very sensitive to cost when considering their post-secondary education.
Not so their parents. There’s no one narrative to explain how the parents of Gen Z feel about education—but this only makes it more important not to make assumptions. Many Gen Z parents are still on board with the traditional college pathway, but may feel embarrassed if they expect they aren’t able to cover as much of the cost as they had once hoped. Others may be fully able to pay for their child to go to college, and therefore feel more resistance toward their child choosing a different path. Still others may not be able to offer much financial assistance at all while feeling this is only further justification for pushing their children toward a prestigious educational path.
Choose community college marketing strategies that will reach parents where they are.
At Aperture Content Marketing, we have a deep bench of experience when it comes to multichannel marketing. But when it comes to reaching parents, one of our favorite strategies is an oldie but goodie: print mail magazines.
While many digital marketing tools can get lost in online chatter, physical magazines have unexpected staying power. Not only do they offer the space community colleges need to lay out the depth of their case, but they tend to linger on countertops and coffee tables as a steady reminder of alternative pathways toward a stable career.
At Aperture, our marketing platform helps community colleges assemble the materials for a campaign quickly by providing a library of researched material for them to pull from and edit to suit their local needs. Our print catalogs can be sent to targeted postal routes based on demographic factors that make it likely for them to land in the hands of parents and their college-aged children. And to reinforce our print catalogs we also offer online microsites and social posts to spread your message consistently.
If you would like to learn more about how our marketing services can help build parent support for community colleges, contact us today. We’d be happy to show you a demo.