Aug. 26, 2019
By Shane Burgess, University of Arizona Vice President for Agriculture, Life and Veterinary Sciences, and Cooperative Extension
Today’s middle and high school students - and most of our undergraduates - are in Generation Z. Gen Z (called Centennials by some in marketing) shows trends critical to our marketing and technology infrastructure investment:
- Cost is their most important factor when choosing a college (84%, up 6 percentage points since 2014).
- Because of its lower cost, 93% think community college is a smart way to pursue higher education. We already embrace transfer students and can prioritize transfer-friendly curricula.
- Their attention spans are brief. They skip ads, and likely other announcements, within 9.5 seconds; 1.4 seconds faster than Millennials; 3.1 seconds faster than Gen X.
- 46% have a specialized diet. Will pizza still snare participants?
Are we ready for this new generation who are here already?
Are we delivering to meet Gen Z where they are?
Gen Z prioritizes experiences. Are we a memorable, novel, personalized experience?
I’m going to touch briefly on this subject at the Semiannual Update (Thursday, August 29, 3:30-5pm in ENR2, room S107). Hope you’ll join us for this subject and more.
Media contact:
Bethany Rutledge, director of administration and communications
520-621-7198, rutledge@cals.arizona.edu