‘Degree programme promotion is bearing fruit’

The strong growth of social sciences at Wageningen is due to the extra effort being made in recruitment and promotion, says communication advisor Mirjam Troost. Currently, both Business and Consumer Studies, and Applied Communication Science have 70 percent more provisional registrations than they did at this time last year. This is evident from figures from Studielink, the body that records registrations by first-year students. ‘As well as the general student recruitment campaign , we have undertaken extra promotional activities to build awareness of the programmes,’ reports Troost. ‘Visitor numbers to open days and Prospective Students’ Days have been rising sharply in recent years. Now this has translated into the large number of first-year students.’ Word-of-mouth advertising Some 100 new students have registered for Business and Consumer Studies, an increase of about 40 on last year. With this boost in numbers, this programme is now among the university’s top three most popular programmes. It trails only Biology, and Nutrition and Health. ‘Our students and lecturers are our best ambassadors. And, of course, at Business and Consumer Studies we are dealing with consumer scientists, people who can ably assist school pupils through the various phases of choosing a programme,’ says Troost. According to Troost, word-of-mouth advertising appears to be the best instrument. With student numbers rising, she expects this effect only to increase. ‘Our programmes are also rated highly by our current students. Within their category of similar programmes, nearly all of our programmes come first in the higher education guide 2012.’