Small Colleges, Big Storytelling Challenge

Guests:

Jonathan Clues (Host)
Scott Novak

Overview: What This Conversation Covers

This transcript captures a conversation between Jonathan Clues and Scott Novak about:

• What defines a small college and why this sector needs its own strategy conversation
• The enrollment and perception challenges facing small colleges today
• Why small colleges cannot compete by copying larger institutions
• How generic messaging creates a “sea of sameness”
• Why outcomes, internships, jobs, and alumni networks need to be more visible
• How digital experience, websites, and video shape student perception
• Why small colleges need to tell fuller and more personalized stories
• How admissions counselors serve as front-line storytellers for the institution

Background: Scott Novak’s Perspective on Small Colleges

Jonathan Clues:
Welcome back to the Filling Seats podcast, StudentBridge’s original content series where we talk with peers and friends from across the industry about topics that we hope are interesting, useful, and relevant.

Today I’m joined by Scott Novak, one of the founders of Small College Consulting. Scott, welcome to the show.

Scott Novak:
Thank you, Jonathan. I’m really excited to be part of this today and talk about small colleges and everything they are dealing with right now.

I have been in higher education since the 1990s. Over the years, I have worked with a number of enrollment marketing firms and started a company in 2016. Along the way, I have worked with hundreds of colleges, predominantly small colleges.

I also went to a small college myself, Susquehanna University in Pennsylvania, so I have a great deal of affinity for them.

What Defines a Small College?

Jonathan Clues:
Let’s start with the basics. When you say “small college,” how are you defining that?

Scott Novak:
There are different ways to define it, but our general rule of thumb is about 5,000 full-time enrolled students or fewer.

There are around 1,900 small colleges in the United States. Some may be in the 5,500 or 6,000 range, and some of the schools we work with have only a few hundred students. But 5,000 full-time enrollments or fewer is the general benchmark we use.

The State of Small Colleges Today

Jonathan Clues:
That is more than I expected, but it makes sense. So how is the sector doing right now?

We hear about the demographic cliff, funding challenges, policy changes, and all kinds of pressure. How are small colleges performing?

Scott Novak:
It is a challenging time.

There is a lot of questioning around the value of a college education in general. Many small colleges are also located in rural areas, and students may assume that a small college will not provide the full college experience.

They may think there is less to do, less of a social environment, fewer courses, or less opportunity after graduation.

But I believe strongly in what small colleges provide. They offer a unique educational experience for traditional undergraduates, transfer students, adult students, and many other learners.

Not every small college is struggling. Some are doing well. But many could be doing better, and there is a lot of change happening right now.

Why Small Colleges Have a Harder Story to Tell

Jonathan Clues:
Do small colleges have a harder sell?

If a student wants a large university experience, they may assume a small college cannot provide what they are looking for.

Scott Novak:
In general, yes, it can be a harder sell.

Students may see a school with 1,200 or 1,400 students and assume there will not be enough to do, enough people to meet, or enough opportunity.

But I would challenge that assumption.

At a small college, you can build strong friendships, strong faculty connections, and a strong alumni network. You learn how to communicate because you have to. You are seen. You are known. And those connections can last a lifetime.

Why the Student Journey Has Changed

Jonathan Clues:
The enrollment journey has changed dramatically, especially in the last five years. How are you seeing prospective students change?

Scott Novak:
There is an inherent assumption that a small college will be more expensive and may offer less opportunity during college or after graduation.

That is why storytelling matters so much.

A lot of small colleges do not focus enough on what happens after graduation. They need to talk more clearly about careers, internships, networks, and outcomes.

Small colleges can offer a lot in those areas, sometimes as much or more than larger institutions. But they need to communicate that better.

We are also seeing fewer applications and more melt. Students may say they are going to one place and then decide to go somewhere else.

The students are still out there, but their interests need to be communicated to in better and more relevant ways.

Why Visibility Is a Major Challenge

Jonathan Clues:
Some larger institutions are expanding their reach and accepting students who may have previously gone to smaller colleges. Is that impacting this sector?

Scott Novak:
Yes, I think that is true.

I also think students often do not know enough about the small colleges available to them.

Guidance counselors have very difficult jobs. There are not enough of them, they are not paid enough, and they cannot spend all their time learning about every small college.

For example, in North Carolina, there is a tremendous state university system. It is easy for students and counselors to focus on the big public options. But there are also dozens of small colleges that students may not know enough about.

That is a visibility problem.

Why Small Colleges Cannot Play Like the Yankees

Jonathan Clues:
Digital can remove geography and help institutions reach students wherever they are. So what do small colleges need to do differently?

Scott Novak:
They need to stop using the same mentality as larger institutions.

I always use the movie Moneyball as an analogy. There is a line where Brad Pitt’s character says that if the Oakland A’s try to play like the Yankees, they will lose to the Yankees.

Small colleges are like a small-market team. They cannot just run the same digital ad campaigns as large institutions with big budgets and expect to compete.

They need to think differently. They need to connect with families and students on a personal level. They need to use their resources more creatively and avoid putting too many eggs in one basket.

Email and digital marketing are useful, but they are not the whole strategy.

The Sea of Sameness in Enrollment Marketing

Jonathan Clues:
Students are receiving touchpoints from many different institutions. It can become a sea of sameness.

Scott Novak:
Exactly.

A prospective student may receive 30 or 40 emails a day from colleges, and many of them basically say the same thing: apply now.

The medium matters, but the message matters even more.

If the message is only that you have a small campus, a family environment, and that students should apply now, that is not going to get the job done.

Why Small Colleges Need to Show Before They Ask

Jonathan Clues:
We see this a lot on college websites too. Many put the calls to action front and center: apply, deposit, visit.

It can feel like a car website that immediately says, “Send us money now.” Schools need to tell stories first. They need to offer something before asking for something.

Scott Novak:
Correct.

That is exactly the issue. Institutions are often asking students to act before they have shown enough value or created enough connection.

Why Value Messaging Needs to Go Beyond Sticker Price

Jonathan Clues:
What are some things small colleges are doing well, but that may still be undervalued by the market?

Scott Novak:
Some schools do a nice job talking about value and looking beyond sticker price.

They talk about the cost, but then they explain why the experience benefits students in the long run.

Others fall flat because they try to buy students with boring content or rely on messages students no longer care about as much.

Small class sizes, for example, is an outdated message when it is used by itself. It is everywhere. It does not mean students do not benefit from smaller environments, but the message has to go deeper.

Why Good Enough Storytelling Is No Longer Good Enough

Jonathan Clues:
We talk a lot about storytelling, but not all storytelling is good storytelling. You can tell a boring story.

Why is good enough storytelling no longer good enough?

Scott Novak:
A lot of schools are not pushing the envelope.

They fall back on simple messages. They also sometimes get so caught up in protecting the brand message that they force it into every communication.

For example, messages like “dream, believe, achieve” or “students come first” are overused. The marketing team may care more about those lines than students do.

Those phrases waste words that could be used to communicate something more meaningful.

Why Small Colleges Can Tell More Specific Stories

Jonathan Clues:
Large institutions may have many different student profiles and may need to market more generally. Do small colleges have the opportunity to be more specific about their ideal student?

Scott Novak:
Yes.

If you are telling stories through case studies or student experiences, prospective students want to see themselves in those stories.

If I am a student from New Jersey looking at a small college in Pennsylvania, I want to see a story about someone like me who went there and what they are doing now.

I also think schools should focus on the immediate benefit of the institution. Students do not only want to see a profile of a CEO who graduated decades ago. They want to hear from the 22-year-old who just landed a great job in New York City or had a great internship.

That is more relatable.

Why the Small College Experience Builds Visibility and Confidence

Jonathan Clues:
One of the things you seem to be saying is that at a small college, students are more visible.

Scott Novak:
Yes.

In a small classroom or a small campus environment, you are seen. You connect with people. You cannot disappear in the same way you might at a large state institution.

That matters.

At a small college, students have to communicate. They have to connect. They have to build relationships. Those are skills that matter in the workplace.

When I was hiring for roles in project management, communications, and related areas, I often looked for small college graduates because they knew how to talk, communicate, interview, and connect with people.

Those are powerful life skills.

Why Small College Stories Need to Be More Complete

Jonathan Clues:
What makes a small college story interesting?

Scott Novak:
It needs to be more well-rounded.

Small colleges have a short amount of time to tell the whole story, so they need to go beyond one simple message.

They need to communicate the value of the institution across different dimensions: social, academic, experiential, societal, and career-focused.

The story needs to be fuller. It also needs to be more personalized and segmented.

Why Geography Still Matters

Jonathan Clues:
Small colleges often recruit more locally, right?

Scott Novak:
Many do, but I do not want to imply they only recruit locally.

A lot of small colleges, especially rural ones, naturally draw most of their students from within a two- to three-hour radius. They may want more students from new markets, but it can be difficult to recruit from farther away unless there is a specific connection, such as athletics or a particular program.

Competition is fierce, especially in areas with many small colleges, like Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and New York.

That makes differentiation even more important.

Why Small Colleges Need to Embrace New Formats

Jonathan Clues:
How should small colleges think about differentiating today?

Are they using video and short stories effectively?

Scott Novak:
They need to embrace solutions like that.

Many colleges have operated the same way for decades. They fall back on a few printed pieces, a large number of emails, and a couple of digital marketing campaigns, then expect applications and enrollments to come in.

That does not work anymore.

The message is often wrong, and the focus is often wrong. Small colleges need to talk more about the value of the education, what students get out of it, and how the experience prepares them after graduation.

Why the Website Still Matters

Jonathan Clues:
For many students, the first real experience of a college is digital. It may be the website, social media, videos, a virtual experience, or digital follow-up.

Is that equally important for small colleges?

Scott Novak:
Absolutely.

The college website is still extremely important because students and parents both use it. It needs to be optimized, creative, well-designed, and structured around the right story.

If students get bogged down in information they do not care about, that is a problem.

Small colleges need to personalize the experience as much as possible because they may not have the resources to do it in other ways.

The website is paramount to success.

Why Rural Should Not Mean Old School

Jonathan Clues:
One thing we see is that some rural schools approach the web in an old-fashioned way. But students do not want “rural” to mean “old school.”

They still want to see that the institution is innovative and investing in technology.

Scott Novak:
They do.

Students want forward-thinking institutions. If a small college is not investing in its digital presence, that can become a real danger.

Practical Advice for Small Colleges

Jonathan Clues:
If you could give two or three pieces of free advice to small colleges, what would they be?

Scott Novak:
First, take a deep look inside and ask whether you are just doing the same thing.

If you are doing the same things from a marketing, recruitment, messaging, or brand perspective that you were doing 10 years ago, you are doing it wrong.

And that also applies if you are doing the same thing as everyone else.

Second, focus more on outcomes, internships, and jobs.

The assumption is often that small colleges are about small class sizes and a family environment. But not enough small colleges focus on the outcomes their students achieve.

The outcomes are there. They just are not talking about them enough.

Why Outside Support Can Help Small Teams

Jonathan Clues:
A lot of small colleges have small budgets and internal teams. Are these teams struggling to keep up?

Scott Novak:
Many are understaffed. People have to wear a lot of different hats.

If you are a vice president of enrollment or advancement, you are being approached every day by companies promising a silver bullet. Leaders do not always have the time to evaluate those options.

Sometimes it is valuable to have an outside voice help identify which opportunities are worth considering and where the ROI may be strong.

It can be easier to hand the whole budget to one large organization and hope the problems go away. But that is not how it works. Schools need to look at different options, take time to learn, and find the partners and strategies that actually get results.

Why Admissions Counselors Need More Investment

Scott Novak:
One more thing I would say is that schools should spend a little more on their internal staff.

Admissions counselors are front-facing individuals for the institution. They are the people talking to students and families, communicating value, and telling the story.

In many cases, they are also among the lowest-paid people at the college.

They should not be.

If those counselors leave because there is not enough compensation or room for growth, the institution has to start over, train new people, and rebuild those relationships.

That hidden cost matters.

Podcast Closing

Jonathan Clues:
That is such an important point. If you do not have new students, you do not have a university. And yet the people bringing in those students are often under-resourced.

Scott, this has been a great conversation. Thank you for joining us and sharing your perspective on small colleges.

For our listeners, we will link to Scott’s LinkedIn and Small College Consulting. As always, StudentBridge is here to help, and our resources are available at StudentBridge.com, including podcasts and webinars.

Scott Novak:
I appreciate the time and opportunity. It was great talking with you.

For anyone listening who works at a college, I would also encourage you to attend the National Small College Conference in Charlotte this summer. It is a great way to network and connect with others from small colleges around the country.

Jonathan Clues:
Scott, best of luck with your new venture. Thanks again for joining us.

Scott Novak:
Thank you, Jonathan. It was great.

For more episodes and resources, visit StudentBridge.com.

We’ll see you next time on Filling Seats.