Should I charge an application fee online?

This is a subject that has not been written about much. Many institutions believe that if a student is serious about applying to a college if they pay an application fee. Having an application fee is also a way of getting the student to invest part of themselves in the college.

What should I have in Place when students are applying online?

1. An account for prospects so that they can submit information and store personal information.
2. A separate application for students interested in your online programs
3. An electronic application, linked to your admissions management system.
4. A status update available for students
5. A pre-application process that allows students to submit their application, and transcripts to see if their credits will transfer. Once this has been determined they are then put into the full application process pending their application fee.

Requiring an application fee online is recommend when offering online courses only if:

• You have an electronic payment system in place.

When requiring an application fee online, if it is not electronic it adds a barrier between the school and the applicant. We live in a generation of ‘Now’ people want things to be convienent for them.

By not accepting payments electronically you are giving people a way to procrastinate with moving forward with your institution. You don’t want to give an applicant a reason to say “I’ll have to think about it”. Likelihood is they’ll continue to look, and then perhaps forget about you.

• You have a program that has little competition online, and is in high demand.

Due to limited options, entry deterrents, like application fees, are less likely to stop prospects from applying.

*There are many systems available that enable you to accept payments on the Internet, such as PayPal.

What to keep in mind when using an application fee or not?

When deciding on whether you want to charge an application fee keep in mind the following: What are the goals of my school? What are your cost associated with admitting a student? What is the attrition rate from applicants to enrollments? Should we allow the student to apply on a conditional basis while determining whether their credits will transfer?

1. What are your goals?- If you have very aggressive goals then you must have an aggressive enrollment process. Obviously the more applications you accept, the more people you can admit. So having no application fee in the case is beneficial. If your goals are less aggressive you can choose whether you have the fee or not, provided that you have a payment process in plan.
2. What is the cost of admittance?- Keep in mind when accepting applications that if you have high costs, then you may want to try to reduce this first.
3. What is your attrition rate?- Try to figure out why your attrition rate is high, or not satisfactory. Are students getting what they expect, were they able to get financing, did a situation come up at home. Make sure to establish communication with admitted students, and encourage them to communicate with you if the need assistance with anything.
4. Should you admit on a conditional basis?- This is one way to get a student invested in your school initially with little risk on both sides of the equation. Many students hesitate because they want to be sure that their credits will transfer, and that your school has financing options in place.

Waiving the application fee will certainly reduce the barrier between a potential student and your school, but keep in mind what your goals are, what your costs are, and what your strategy is.