EdTech Connect Podcast: Episode Summary

Episode: The Biggest Disconnect on Campus? What Students Want vs. What Colleges Think They Want
Host: Jeff Dillon
Guest: Jarrett Smith, SVP of Strategy at Echo Delta
Release Date: August 22, 2025
Link: edtechconnect.com
Notable: Reached #4 on Apple Podcast Education Category

Episode Overview

This episode explores the gap between what prospective students want from college websites and what higher education professionals believe those needs are. Jeff Dillon interviews Jarrett Smith, researcher and co-author of the "Designing for Decisions" report, to unpack the findings from a survey of over 1,000 prospective students. The discussion covers website usability, cost transparency, content priorities, personalization myths, and how colleges can respond to evolving student expectations.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Why This Research? (02:04–03:36)

• Motivation: Previous research was too high-level for practical web design decisions.
• Need: Colleges often lack access to granular, transferable user data due to either budget constraints or project scoping.
• Method: By generating a robust, segmented data set, Jarrett's team aimed to clarify student digital priorities.

2. Top Tasks Methodology (03:40–05:35)

• Approach: Surveyed 1,000+ prospective students (ages 16–55, domestic & international) using the "top tasks" method—participants chose five priorities from a comprehensive, randomized list of possible website tasks.
• Segmentation: Data enabled analysis by demographics, audience type (first-gen status, undergrad/grad, academic interest, etc.).

3. Student Frustrations with Higher Ed Websites

• Findings:
  • Only 17% of prospective students say they can always find what they need (05:35).
  • 55% have abandoned a site out of frustration.
• Barriers:
  • Website sprawl (super Walmart analogy), lack of digital governance, information silos.
  • Institutional jargon and structure.
  • Over-emphasis on accuracy and thoroughness at the expense of accessibility.

“I sometimes refer to university website as like a super Walmart of information…over time, the websites get bloated and chaotic and it's just there's like an entropy that happens there.”
— Jarrett Smith (06:32)

4. Complexity and Internal Challenges (08:45–10:05)

• Large teams and digital silos exacerbate content sprawl.
• Only 18% of higher ed digital leaders think their digital experience is effective, with many unsure how to improve.

5. Personalization: More Similarities than Differences (10:05–12:00)

• Granular personalization is often unnecessary—students share more common needs than institutions realize.
• Major student needs transcend demographic segmentation.

“There's way more common ground across students. …When we look across our survey…we see way more common ground than we see differences.”
— Jarrett Smith (10:38)

6. Core Content: Admissions, Aid, Academics (12:30–13:14)

• The survey focused on these as the essential functions of any college website.
• Student life, president’s message, and strategic plans are secondary.

7. Total Cost of Attendance: The “Super Task” (13:14–16:19)

• Key Finding: Regardless of segment, total cost of attendance is always the top priority.
• Best Practices:
  • Make cost information highly visible and easy to find.
  • Summarize direct, indirect, and program-specific costs—don't force students to do the math.
  • Avoid hiding cost details behind financial aid info.

"They know you cost money and hiding it, obscuring that, trying to redirect the conversation…does not engender trust."
— Jarrett Smith (14:25)

"Imagine like going to a car dealership…and they just gave you all of the line item prices but you had to go through and add it up. So I think that's just like, come on, like let's think this through."
— Jarrett Smith (15:34)

• Positive Examples:
  • Missouri S&T and University of North Dakota make cost calculators and breakdowns prominent and user-friendly (16:33).

8. Hidden Gems: Payment Plans (17:28–19:32)

• Most colleges overlook payment plans as a form of financial aid, but students value knowing about them.
• This insight challenges institutional assumptions and calls for greater customer-centricity.

“It hasn't even crossed our mind that a student might want it. But we really struck a nerve in our survey.”
— Jarrett Smith (17:53)

9. Disconnects Between Staff and Students (21:10–22:44)

• Staff predicted only ~50% of student priorities correctly.
• Staff overestimate the value of things like rankings and deadlines; underestimate factors like payment plans, acceptance rates, and satisfaction rates.

“They drastically overestimated how much students would prioritize something like program rankings…”
— Jarrett Smith (21:41)

10. Segmented Needs: Traditional vs. Non-Traditional Students (22:44–24:47)

• Traditional undergrads: prioritize acceptance rate, post-graduation debt, confidence-building content.
• Non-traditional/graduate students: less focused on these, having already bought into the educational value.

11. Advice for Content Hierarchy Paralysis (24:47–26:49)

• If debates are political or based on highest paid person’s opinion, external help is needed.
• If lacking information, consult current research or simply talk to students.

“You can learn more by watching five students use your website…you can just get there so much faster.”
— Jarrett Smith (26:32)

12. One Simple Fix (27:15–28:11)

• Audit and improve the wayfinding and clarity of cost information.
• View your website with fresh eyes: "Would I be satisfied with how easy it is to find and understand costs here?"

13. AI & Future Research Directions (28:20–30:32)

• AI-generated "synthetic" audiences are promising, but not yet reliable (concerns over cultural bias and accuracy).
• AI can help with heuristic content analysis and best practices, but expert human analysis remains indispensable.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Being Student-Centric:
  "We organize our websites based on org structure…primarily makes sense to people inside the organization and is less thoughtful about how that lands with people out toward the organization."
  — Jarrett Smith (07:44)

• On Personalization:
  "Our research kind of suggests that's not really grounded in reality, that there's way more common ground across students."
  — Jarrett Smith (10:38)

• On Cost Transparency:
  "Give something that's more straightforward for that 17-year-old or their parents that's trying to figure out what the heck is going on with cost."
  — Jarrett Smith (15:50)

• On Staff-Student Disconnect:
  "They drastically overestimated how much students would prioritize something like program rankings…"
  — Jarrett Smith (21:41)

• On Website Improvements:
  "If you're honest with yourself and maybe a little emotionally distant from your organization…would I be satisfied with the answer we’re serving up?"
  — Jarrett Smith (27:15)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Introduction & Research Motivation — 02:04
• Methodology — 03:40
• Website Usability & Student Frustrations — 05:35, 06:32
• Personalization Myths & Segmentation — 10:05, 10:38
• Core Content Focus — 12:30
• Total Cost of Attendance Findings — 13:14, 14:25, 15:34
• Payment Plans & Overlooked Needs — 17:28, 17:53
• Institutional Disconnects — 21:10, 21:41
• Traditional vs. Non-Traditional Needs — 22:44
• Advice for Content Paralyzation — 24:47, 26:32
• One Simple Fix — 27:15
• AI & Future of EdTech Research — 28:20, 30:32

Resources

• Designing for Decisions Report: Echo Delta - Designing for Decisions
• Connect with Jarrett Smith: LinkedIn (link in show notes)
• EdTech Connect Podcast

Tone: Authentic, direct, and insight-rich—packed with clear anecdotes and practical takeaways.
Summary Utility: This guide provides a roadmap for higher education leaders, marketers, and web professionals seeking to align digital experiences with what genuinely matters to today’s students.