Clause icon 2013-1.jpgAPU students come from all over the country but there is a trend in larger numbers
of students coming from states such as Washington, Oregon, Arizona, Nevada, Illinois and Colorado.

Every year, admissions counselors visit these states and attend high school informational sessions and college fairs.

“Diversity on campus, in all different capacities, is really important and having students from all different states represented adds to that,” said Jessica England, director of freshman recruitment.

The Undergraduate Admissions Office is in charge of recruitment and has a process that is carried out every year to promote the university to high school students in hopes that they will become future Cougars.

Certain cities also send a large number of students to APU. For example, out of all the students from Colorado, a large number hail from Colorado Springs.

“In Colorado Springs, the Focus on the Family hub is there and there are a lot of alumni going back to their families and talking about APU,” said Carlie Buys, senior admissions counselor and athletics liaison. “Also, what I have found is that there are not a lot of larger Christian colleges in Colorado, so students tend to go west.”

Admissions counselors consistently visit areas that are already producing large numbers of students or where the university has strong connections.

“There are areas that we have recruited from for a long time, and so students know someone that came to APU or someone from their church came here,” said senior admissions counselor Daly Johnson. “It is based on where we have past students coming from, those are the areas we pour into. A lot of times we have connections in those areas like a church.”

Out of budget concerns, the office must be strategic about its plans to expand and add more recruitment trips outside California. For now, the office is utilizing resources they currently have in other states.

“Parents are also helping us reach out through parent channels and talking about APU and why they sent their kids here,” said England.

There are also people connected to the university in a professional sense who are also helping with the recruitment process.

“We have an old admissions counselor, Laura Fortner, up in Alaska and she goes to a couple of fairs for us in Alaska,” said England.

More students from Alaska, Hawaii and Texas have been coming within the last couple of years, which is a good expansion for the university as it hopes to continue to get more students from various states.

“I think that students now, more so than when I was a student … choose APU based on their experience. Their experience of APU can be from visiting the school, or word-of-mouth or seeing us at a college fair,” said Johnson.

The office is using a new tool this year to help spread the word about APU. Similar to a live stream, this new tool targets high school students through online chats, PowerPoints and Skype sessions with an admissions counselor through an organization called Meet My College.