With the advancement in technology post-COVID, the edtech industry has boomed. Now, one of the most significant advancements introduced here is the chatbots for college admission. Think of the time when students had to wait for days to get their issues solved, especially while getting into higher education. Now, with specific college admission chatbots, students get immediate answers and instant responses. Functioning like AI-powered study partners, these chatbots are transforming the entire mechanism of education.
It’s expected that by 2025, the entire chatbot industry will be worth $1.25 billion. Does this mean it would replace teachers in the future? Well, chatbots function as an aid to educators, providing them ample support to guide and inspire students. Still confused about the role of chatbots in college admission procedure? To clarify your doubts, learn more about college admission chatbots, their benefits, use cases, real-life examples, future trends, and many more here.
What are college admission chatbots in higher education?
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With artificial intelligence being the talk of the town, chatbots are a systematic AI program that conducts human communication with the intervention of any human. They act like virtual assistants that provide real-time and immediate responses. As conversational bots, college admission chatbots are specially trained with the necessary codes to conduct a seamless student interaction. You can deploy these educational chatbots across various platforms as they are adaptable.
From helping prospective students with valuable information to handling requests in international time zones and offering multilingual support, these college admission chatbots are a boon to the edtech industry. Since these chatbots are available 24/7, you can cut down on the acquisition cost while prospects get immediate answers at any time from any part of the world. For example, the chatbot of Prince Nourah Univerisity helps the institution and its candidates with 91% admission accuracy by answering student queries. This has significantly reduced their manual labor.
Key benefits of using chatbots in college admission
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Considering the business side of the educational industry, these days, chatbots have become extremely popular in colleges and universities. In fact, chatbots now act as powerful allies and provide these benefits in the college admission process:
24/7 instant support
Often students have queries outside the office timings. They feel anxious unless their problems are solved. Here, the college admission chatbots offer help 24/7. Irrespective of the time zone you live in, these chatbots give you instant answers on course registration, course finances, and the like around the clock. Hence, you don’t have to wait for any human resources to be available.
Faster application processing and document submission
Think of the times when you had to stand in a long queue for hours just to submit an admission application form. Tiresome, isn’t it. After these college admission chatbots have come into play, you no longer have to spend hours or visit the college premises manually. Instead, you can process the admission right from the comfort of your home. On the other hand, you can submit the documents in no time. This enhances the process and saves time.
Increased efficiency for admissions teams
Gone are the days when the entire admission process in colleges used to be done manually. Back then, it used to take more than a month just to get the admission process cleared. However, the introduction of AI-integrated chatbots has fastened the process and made things more systematic. Right from admission automation with accurate student data to providing reminders to students at the right time, these college admission chatbots allow you to pay attention to more productive higher educational tasks.
Personalized admission guidance
Every student has different queries. Navigating each one of them through a complicated course and admission process can be a daunting task. Things become even more challenging when the entire process gets delayed due to a lack of human resources. It leads to misunderstandings as well. This is where a college admission chatbot comes into play. Through an interactive and engaging chatbot, colleges can conduct live chats with the students. This effortlessly solves their doubts and connects with students on a personal level.
Reducing errors and miscommunication
Since live chatbots for college admission allow you to communicate on a one-on-one level, you can expect less miscommunication and fewer errors in the entire admission process. In the case of manual handling of the admission process, sometimes candidates get the wrong information. Besides, manual entry of data leads to unprecedented errors. All of these hamper the entire admission procedure. However, the chatbots are fed with appropriate codes and data so that they are efficient enough to understand and handle all queries from the students.
Enhanced engagement through conversational AI
Chatbots provide real-time answers to students and keep them engaged. The student is talking to a human. So, instead of connecting with the college or university in person and waiting for answers for days, you get responses within seconds. This makes the admission process more dynamic and reduces miscommunication and misunderstandings.
Automated follow-ups and reminders
Have you ever noticed a college or university HR department following up with a candidate after the candidate has contacted and inquired about the institution? Well, this is because of the human resource's lack of time and professionalism. But with college admission chatbots, you can remind candidates of the right information at the right time. These chatbots provide AI-generated answers that help the candidates stay on track.
Data collection and analysis
One of the primary benefits of incorporating chatbots for college admission is to gather candidate data and analyze them for the betterment of the institution. Managing data manually is a challenging task. Often, you lose track of them and tend to make mistakes that cost you heavily. With college admission chatbots, you collect data from both existing and prospective students and analyse them to bring improvements to the education system. This user-friendly behaviour of chatbots improves the efficiency of the system and streamlines the administrative processes.
Types of college admission chatbots for students in the higher education
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Different colleges and universities have different requirements and admission processes. To cater to all of them, here are the two types of college admission chatbots that benefit both the students and the institutions:
Task bots
Task bots automate tasks by solving queries of the candidates in question-answer format. Apart from text-based responses, Task bots also help you with images, relevant external links, videos, and images as per the query. From providing important information to gathering essential data and routing candidates to agents or the HR department, Task bots do it all.
AI chatbots
On the other hand, AI chatbots use artificial intelligence that can respond like a human. These chatbots understand complex human languages and take it to the student agent when necessary. With AI chatbots, you can also set up systems that allow candidates to regulate their fees. One of the greatest features of AI chatbots is conditional logic.
This helps the chatbot understand the intent of the student and interact on the basis of the candidate’s profile. A pertinent example of an AI Chatbot is Copilot.live. This chatbot collects lead information through conversations, analyses data to provide accurate information and helps users interact with support agents during emergencies.
Best use cases of college admission chatbots in higher education
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Since today’s students are Gen Z and surrounded by technology, having a chatbot for college admissions can help you understand them better and position yourself accordingly in the market. Here is a list of use cases where chatbots are bringing a complete transformation to the educational field:
Answering frequently asked questions
Now, the entire education system has shifted online and to various other EdTech platforms. Here, most people look for the course fee and the course syllabus. Here, most educational institutions do not have the resources to provide answers to all these queries. Having a college admission chatbot here is helpful as it provides all the necessary information related to the course. This provides a transparent relationship between the candidate and the organization.
Application tracking and real-time status updates
After applying to a particular college or university, candidates wait for the results. They panic if the process gets delayed or if they do not get any status update about their application. Here, a college admission chatbot keeps track of the application and helps a candidate with real-time status. This keeps the candidate tension-free and leads him through a systematic procedure.
Virtual campus tours and program exploration
Before entering any college or university, students prefer checking out the campus. They also demand a detailed guide on the educational program. Unfortunately, most of the colleges do not have any human resources to help them in this regard. Here, college admission chatbots can give them a virtual tour of the college campus. Further, after knowing the educational background, the chatbot can also suggest the courses that are suitable for the candidate.
Scholarship and financial aid assistance
These AI-integrated chatbots give the candidates detailed information on scholarships and financial aid. Further, they help candidates to identify the most eligible grants and scholarships based on merit. These chatbots work like guiding lights throughout the application process.
Admission interview scheduling and preparation tips
Preparing for interviews gives candidates the most nightmares. However, with college admission chatbots, candidates no longer need to fear facing awkward questions. The college admission chatbots are trained in a way that schedules interviews at stipulated times. In addition, these chatbots boost the spirit and confidence of the candidates to prepare for the interviews.
Multilingual support for international applicants
To ensure international students get the best educational guidance, college admission chatbots offer prompt responses in multiple languages. Right from assisting international students with visa applications to the admission process, these chatbots have your back.
Interactive learning and engagement
Today, 75% of Gen Z likes to solve problems with 1:1 conversation and transparent communication. Traditionally, this might be a challenging affair. But with chatbots coming into the higher education sphere, students can now conduct easy and engaging communication to get the most suited information. Further, these chatbots act as teaching assistants. Right from tracking assignments to tailoring projects according to the candidate’s subject or stream, these higher education chatbots are a ray of hope.
Factors to consider when choosing the right chatbot for higher education
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With artificial intelligence joining hands with the higher education sector, now it’s challenging to find the best chatbot for college education. However, these are the factors to look for to get the best:
AI capabilities and NLP
Look for a college admission chatbot that can understand the complex problems of students. The chatbot should be trained with natural language programming to understand problems in multiple languages.
Customization and scalability
Not every candidate has similar queries. Similarly, the needs of different institutions are different. The chatbot you invest in should be able to adapt to the needs of your institution as well as of the candidates. Besides, it should be flexible to capture changes made according to trends in the educational sector.
Integration with the college system
A seamless college admission chatbot should work with the student database, college/university website, and CRM. It should fetch real-time data, gather student records, and provide application status. To help students with details about the institution, the chatbot must assist them with eligible scholarship opportunities and grants.
Omnichannel support
Since students these days interact with colleges and universities through various platforms, the chatbot should provide easy accessibility across multiple communication channels like websites, social media platforms, emails, WhatsApp, and the like.
Data privacy and security
When a chatbot is handling student admission, it should comply with strict data privacy guidelines. All communication through the chatbot should have end-to-end encryption. Colleges or universities should have complete access to the chatbot logs and student conversations without having to compromise with data protection.
Cost and ROI
Another unavoidable factor to take note of is costing. Before you implement a chatbot in your college admission procedure, make sure to check for any hidden costs. Often, chatbot providers charge you later in terms of maintenance, setup, and conversion rates. So, checking all these factors helps you allocate a defined budget.
Real-world examples of successful college admission chatbots
With the growth of AI, several colleges and educational institutions have already incorporated college admission chatbots into their systems. Eventually, they have all impacted student engagement, improved efficiency, and streamlined the entire admission process. Amongst all, here are the top 5 college admission chatbots that have transformed higher education and presented themselves as market-ready:
Georgia State University’s Pounce Chatbot
When Georgia State University faced the “summer melt,” several students were declared failed due to a lack of guidelines, not adhering to deadlines, and miscommunication. This was when the University introduced ‘Pounce,’ an AI-integrated chatbot that notifies students through their admission process. The primary function of Pounce is to send customised notifications on deadlines for various kinds of submissions.
Further, with its text-based communication, Pounce engages thoroughly with the students and provides real-time data. This has significantly reduced errors like summer melt and increased enrollment by 21%. This has served a two-fold purpose - it satisfies the students with relevant information at the right time; secondly, it saves time and resources for the university. After using Pounce for a few months, 94% of students recommended that the university administrators should introduce Pounce to the next year's admitted students. Besides, 80% of the students rated the chatbot a 4 or 5 out of 5.
Arizona State University’s AI-Powered Assistant
Arizona State University follows a technologically sound and innovative approach by introducing an AI-powered chatbot for college admission. With real-time application assistance, the chatbot helps students complete admission forms without a doubt. From answering FAQs to sending automated follow-ups, the chatbot checks on every student and resolves their issues.
Further, it also helps with information related to university financial aid and grants for students. Such a proactive follow-up system has enhanced their engagement with students. It has helped more students complete their admission process without any hassle.
Deakin University’s Genie Chatbot
Deakin University wanted to guide both the existing and prospective students of Australia. So, they developed and introduced Genie, a response chatbot that functions like a virtual assistant and guides candidates through the entire admission process. What makes Genie different from its competitors is its feature to monitor the mental health and well-being of the students.
The makers of Genie understand how young students get affected mentally by extreme academic pressure and peer pressure. To let students live a good life and flourish in their academic careers, Genie monitors students’ mental condition to check if they are doing well.To elucidate the success of Genie, the Chief Digital Officer of Deakin, William Confalonieri, stated, “Genie means that every student in Deakin has support at hand around the clock. It is a digital assistant to help with managing schedules, assignments, and all general aspects of university life.”
Harvard University’s Admissions Chatbot
Being a prestigious university, Harvard has embraced the power of technology by introducing an effective admission chatbot. Since Hardvard receives hundreds of inquiries from students every day, this chatbot helps the institution keep track of the inquiries and answer all of them instantly. The main task of this AI-integrated chatbot is to provide accurate answers to frequently asked questions.
This automatically diminishes the need for human resources and saves time and acquisition costs for the university. Some of the other functions of the chatbot include helping students with step-by-step guidance of admission, escalating students to HR department officers, etc. This has drastically improved efficiency by reducing call and email responses. Now, candidates get accurate responses in no time. Eventually, the admission department can now pay attention to other essential academic procedures and decision-making.
University of Murcia’s Chatbot for International Admission
The University of Murcia has come up with a specialised chatbot exclusively for international students. Through this chatbot, the international student can get complete guidance about their admission procedure. Since this chatbot offers multilingual support, international students can ask their queries in their native language to the chatbot and get replies instantly.
As a result, this has reduced miscommunications and has accelerated the admission process. Besides, the chatbot helps students with visa applications, region-specific compliance, and orientation programs.
Drawbacks in college admission chatbots for higher education
While college admission chatbots are making the admission process much easier and speedier, there are some downsides as well. Here are the key challenges of implementing college admission chatbots:
Data privacy and security concerns
The entire admission process involves managing sensitive student data like students’ personal details, academic records, and, sometimes, financial information as well. Here, data security and privacy are primary concerns. Since AI chatbots store a vast amount of student data, naturally, they become prey to cyber threats. Many colleges allow AI chatbots to integrate with CRM software, which, if not managed properly, can hamper security.
Balancing automation with human interaction
Chatbots are fed with data and codes. In a way, they are trained to perform in a certain way. However not all queries can be resolved by chatbots. When students require a detailed course structure or educational counseling, this requires the intervention of an able human. Besides, if chatbots are not fed with a specific code, they will fail to understand the query and provide a generic answer.
Customisation and integration with existing systems
Colleges integrate AI chatbots with multiple platforms and mechanisms. Sometimes, this may not be seamless. Besides, every college has specific admission requirements. No pre-built chatbot works here. Instead, the colleges have to train the chatbots accordingly to meet their specific goals.
How to create a college admission chatbot in Copilot.Live?
Creating a chatbot for college admission can be a daunting task only if you are not aware of the process. To help you in this regard, go through the steps mentioned here:
Step 1: Navigate and visit the website
The first step is to visit the website of Copilot.Live. You can click here to get quick access to the website.
Step 2: Sign up
On the right hand side corner, choose the Sign Up button. Fill in all the details to sign up with Copilot.Live
Step 3: Give a suitable name and design
Next, provide a suitable name and design for the chatbot. Copilot.Live provides you customization themes that help you to match the chatbot to your business or brand.
Step 4: Train the chatbot
Now, it’s time to train your chatbot for more personalization. Here, to ensure that your chatbot talks and acts like a human resource, add all the necessary information.
Step 5: Test and deploy
Voila! Your customised chatbot is ready! Now, before you make the chatbot live, always test it to check for bugs. Keep on refining the chatbot until you are satisfied. Once the chatbot is ready, deploy it and watch your college admission transform for the better.
Future trends in college admission chatbots
In the future, there’s a lot more scope for AI and chatbots to transform the entire educational sector. The rapid growth and improvement of AI-integrated chatbots promise to offer more personalised support to students. Soon, you can expect to bid adieu to the conventional methods of college admission, as they are time-consuming and costly, especially from the business point of view. Later, chatbots will function like virtual assistants that answer questions and help students with proper clarification of various complex educational concepts.
The incorporation of chatbots for college admission is a one-time investment whose benefits can be reaped forever, provided customisation is done at the right time. Considering the humongous growth of AI, you can expect more educational institutions of all levels to incorporate machine learning and artificial intelligence into their framework. This is sure to improve the overall quality of education at all levels.
Conclusion
So, by now, you must have understood the importance of chatbots in the higher educational sphere. Although people are still finding it challenging to embrace AI-based chatbots as this is a new technological addition, yet it reaps the best benefits for educational institutions. With chatbots for college admission, you can streamline the entire admission process without any human intervention.
This automatically saves time and resources. So, if you are on the hunt for an effective college admission chatbot provider, Copilot.Live has your back. Copilot.Live is a personalized AI-integrated chatbot that gives you complete access to the conversations and customizes your workflow. It’s a brilliant amalgamation of machine learning and NLP, making the chatbot follow the personality of your brand.
