Many colleges elect to pass out flyers to high school students. These flyers commonly contain high quality images of the school campus and students. They also feature statistics or other information that speaks to the effectiveness of the college program and provide information about the courses of study offered.
By sending direct mailings to students nearing college age, universities can entice students who may not previously have known of the institution of higher education. While some colleges elect to send out large pamphlets, most send postcard-sized mailings that contain information but are not as costly to send as multi-page advertisements.
Billboards can spread information to anyone who passes by the board's location. To design an effective recruitment billboard, schools must include attention getting pictures and colors and carefully select text to incorporate to ensure that the billboard is not overly cluttered and that the information is easily understood by those passing quickly. Additionally, location is important when creating a billboard. Colleges and universities want to select a billboard location that is close enough to the school that those who see the billboard are aware of the institution, but not so close that they miss attracting individuals who may live far enough away to be on-campus dorm residents.
Students can be effectively recruited when presented with live presentations by college or university officials. Many colleges and universities arrange presentations at in-state high schools and send admissions officials to speak to potential students. These live presentations often prove highly effective because they give potential students the opportunity to ask questions about the school.
Some colleges and universities are taking advantage of the prevalence of technology and using web streaming video as a recruitment tool. Some schools elect to put recruitment videos on YouTube, while others post videos that promote the school on their school website so that those searching for school information have access to an audiovisual presentation about the school's features.