Boosting Student Engagement in Online Orientation
5 Proven Strategies That Work
4-MINUTE READ
Online orientation isn’t just a check-the-box task; it’s your first, best chance to set students up for success. But too often, institutions treat it like a soft suggestion rather than a strategic touchpoint. The result? Low engagement, lower completion, and missed opportunities to reach students and their families with confidence-building information they need to take the next step.
We’ve gathered proven strategies from high-performing campuses to help you flip the script by boosting early engagement, improving outcomes, and proving ROI.
Strategy 1: Seek Stakeholder Alignment
Set the foundation for campus-wide buy-in
Before you launch anything, gather your campus partners and define shared goals. Is your orientation meant to onboard students, drive engagement, meet compliance, or all three? Clarifying your goals helps everyone pull in the same direction.
Include in your kickoff:
- Student Affairs
- Academic Advising
- IT Support
- Accessibility Services
- Marketing & Communications
Pro Tip: A 30-minute kickoff now can save 300 emails later. Assign clear roles, define ownership, and give every team a reason to care about completion.
Strategy 2: Timing Is Everything, Launch Early & Launch Loud
Don’t wait for welcome week. Shape the experience earlier.
Your best shot at driving engagement is when students are still forming expectations. The earlier they see orientation, the more likely they are to complete it and retain it.
Quick Wins:
- Send orientation access immediately after enrollment confirmation
- Reference it during advising, registration, and financial aid comms
- Reinforce it through SMS, email, and peer reminders
Pro Insight: Students who complete orientation early show up to advising more confident, more prepared, and more likely to succeed.
Strategy 3: Promote It Like a Launch, Not Just a Link
You’re not sending out a resource, you’re unveiling an experience.
Treat orientation like a campus event. Build anticipation. Use multiple channels. And never assume “we emailed it once” means they saw it.
Promotion Ideas:
- Launch week email drip campaign
- Social media countdowns or ambassador shoutouts
- Text nudges with incentives
- Digital signage or LMS announcements
Bonus Idea: Offer a fun reward for completing all modules, like a certificate, badge, or entry into a campus swag giveaway.
Strategy 4: Make It Official (Even If It’s Optional)
Students follow the signals you give them.
If orientation is “optional,” but no one treats it like it matters, students will skip it. But if it sounds like a crucial step on the way to success, they’ll pay attention.
Use messaging like:
- “Your first step to campus success starts here.”
- “Complete this to unlock your best first semester.”
- “You’re not fully registered until you’ve completed orientation.”
Pro Tip: Pair strong messaging with visibility by mentioning orientation in every advising, housing, and student success touchpoint.
Strategy 5: Connect Orientation to Student Success
Orientation isn’t just a checkbox. It’s a key moment that sets students up for success. When you frame it as a helpful resource (not just mandatory busy work), students engage more and start their first semester with confidence.
Show students why it matters:
- Help them understand how orientation eases their transition to college
- Reduces first-semester friction
- Answers common questions
- Builds confidence before day one
Reframe the message:
“This helps you avoid common first-year mistakes.”
“You’ll be less overwhelmed, more prepared.”
“Know what to expect before you step on campus or sign in to your first course.”
Bonus idea: Reinforce value with real student voices in future campaigns:
“This answered questions I didn’t even know I had!”
“It made my first semester way less scary.”
Show stakeholders how it’s working:
Collect and leverage student satisfaction data to make the case for orientation value. When students feel more prepared, they’re more likely to stay enrolled, and that directly supports your institution’s retention and yield goals.
- Use orientation survey data and student feedback in reporting
- Compare pre/post-launch metrics like yield and melt
- Partner with admissions/enrollment to align orientation impact with broader goals
Want to boost your student completion rate and see stronger outcomes across the board?
Start with these five strategies and let us help you put them into action.
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