New iPhone and Mobile Versions of the Schools App Released!
Inigral Launches iPhone and Mobile Versions of Popular Schools App, Offering Proven, Innovative Ways to Connect with Students
San Francisco, January 31, 2012—To help institutions maximize enrollment of students in the class of 2016, Inigral announced today the release of mobile and IPhone versions of its popular Schools App available to students at colleges and universities that offer the service. The Schools App has become a successful retention tool for community colleges, private colleges and public universities by providing a platform to build stronger connections with students through student-led interactions.
With 75 percent of teens and 93 percent of young adults having cell phones (Pew, 2010) and 350 million of Facebook’s current 800 million users accessing the site through the mobile web (Techcrunch, 2011), the new mobile version is another way in which Inigral is helping institutions strengthen connections to their students through the latest technology that students use every day.
The iPhone and mobile versions of Schools App gives students an easy way to organize meet ups, learn about their school’s environment and find other students with similar interests all without having to be tied to a computer. The ‘Meet Ups’ functionality is a new feature that gives students an easy way to organize gatherings, small or large, with classmates interested in similar activities.
“Our online community has helped many universities measure applicant interest and student engagement. This can help them reach their admissions and retention goals,” said Michael Staton, Co-Founder and Chief Evangelist at Inigral. “The app even provides data on the concerns and interests of ‘stealth applicants’ so that admissions offices can address these students’ preferences as they move them from unknown to enrolled.”
Research shows that social connections play a key role in student enrollment, success, and retention, and Inigral’s Schools App has been proven to correlate strongly with the probability of a student enrolling and staying in college.
“Schools App has provided us with an effective and efficient platform to connect with accepted students prior to them setting foot on campus,” said Claire Silva, Assistant Dean of Admissions at Gonzaga University. “It’s an easy way of giving students the support network they need to thrive and provides me, as an administrator, with a simple dashboard that has a wealth of information allowing us to better serve our students.”
Over 70 colleges and universities, large and small, including Arizona State University, University of California Santa Barbara, Stetson University, Loyola University Maryland, Columbia College Chicago and many more, are currently utilizing the Schools App to offer prospective students a strong sense of the community they desire, including access to representative peer mentors, staff and faculty. Inigral has found facilitating these relationships correlates with an increased likelihood of a student enrolling.
“We’ve seen a surge of activity in our Schools App every enrollment cycle — even at the point of admission, our students love expressing themselves in the application,” said Noki Seekao, Director of Student Life at California College of the Arts. “It’s great to see our students so enthusiastic about school and reaching out to other students for support and advice.”
