Boarding’s Back: Capitalize on a Growing Trend Toward Private School Boarding Program Enrollment

Our friends at NAIS recently shared a snapshot survey of member-school admission officers – and the emerging trends about the 2024-2025 school year were illuminating (in our humble nerdy opinion).

45% of NAIS member boarding schools reported a year-over-year increase in international student enrollment in 2024-2025 (17 points higher than the increase seen at all schools).

We’re hearing similar things from the private and independent schools we talk to. After a few unpredictable years, families are considering boarding again – including those coming from overseas.

Marketing to these families is an interesting challenge that most school marketing and admissions professionals are very familiar with (and likely losing some sleep over). Geographically, schools need to pick the regions where they anticipate seeing the most success –then advertise there, show up at events, and connect with local partners and boarding consultants who can connect them with right-fit families.

The topic is too broad to unpack in a single blog, but we wanted to help school marketers narrow in on some specific best practices and ideas to consider when marketing your boarding programs.

Understand Your Audiences

Most boarding programs attract a mix of domestic and international students. These families are often in the market with very different goals, and making decisions about enrollment for very different reasons.

• Domestic Audiences: These families are typically looking for a comprehensive, well-rounded educational experience that emphasizes community, academics, and extracurricular opportunities. They are considering boarding for a variety of reasons that could include convenience, access to a program that’s not available locally, or creating a stepping stone to independence for their child before post-secondary school.

• International Audiences: These families are looking for the most unique aspects of your program - and your school’s brand, history, and prestige matter. They’ll want to know that you have a strong track record of welcoming different cultures and provide a supportive environment where their child will integrate smoothly and thrive as they soak up a quintessentially American/Canadian experience.

Remember that when you’re marketing your boarding program, you are typically looking for families with teenagers – and those teenagers will be doing their own research and participating in the decision-making process – so you should consider them as a key target audience in their own right. 

Finally, don’t shy away from micro-audiences and special interest groups. There may be fewer of them - but it might be easier to find them and connect with them in a meaningful way (for example, leaning into your school’s equestrian program will allow you to advertise and connect with potential students who are interested in that specific program).

Know Why Families Choose You

Lean into your program’s value proposition – what sets you apart from other options – including academics, support services, extracurricular activities, and your overall boarding experience. Repeat these messages through all touchpoints (your website, viewbook, email copy, social content, tradeshow banners, etc.) and ensure everyone is speaking from the same script - figuratively and literally.

Keep Learning: How to Uncover and Leverage Your School’s True Differentiators

Create Content that Connects

Boarding programs will become the everyday life experience of their students – and it’s important that your marketing allows families and students to truly see themselves there. Show your facilities. Feature current boarding students and tell their stories. Talk about a typical ‘day in the life.’ Emphasize the emotional connection… and be sure to create content that is true and authentic, especially when targeting media-savvy teens. Think about ways you could prompt current students to share how their life improved in unexpected ways because they board at your school.

Keep Learning: How to Plan Your Best Photo Shoot Ever, 5 Tips for Using Testimonials in Your School’s Marketing Mix

Offer Personalized Experiences

It goes without saying that your school will be planning open house events – likely both on campus and virtually – for families to be able to learn more about your program and your school. Consider taking it a step further and offering unique and personalized experiences for families who are seriously considering your school.

• Invite students to come live in a dorm and experience a day or two as a boarding student. Pair them with a current student who shares their interests to see where they live, eat, and attend classes and activities.

• Pair interested students with ambassador students who can FaceTime with them and offer a personalized tour of the campus, answer questions, and give them an authentic behind-the-scenes look at life as a boarding student.

• Tailor some admissions events to specific interests or groups of families so you can cover topics that are most relevant to them. The attendance at these events might be a little bit lower than a general Open House, but your ability to connect with the families who come will skyrocket.

Learn and Adapt

The best marketing is alive and ever-changing because we learn as we go, and then can adapt our marketing strategies accordingly. 

• Collect feedback from current boarding students and their families, alum, and prospective families to better understand their needs and their experiences.

• Gather testimonials, images, and video content on a regular basis to ensure a broad library of marketing assets from a variety of perspectives.

• Most of us keep a close eye on our closest competitors – but be sure to look up and around too. For example, to borrow from our earlier example, seeing how a boarding program connected to an elite hockey academy is flourishing could give you ideas about ways to market your school’s equestrian program.

• Regularly analyze and deep-dive into your marketing data to see where your boarding interest is coming from, what these families have in common, which geos are offering the highest ROI, what people are searching for, and more. Gather the information – and then focus on the ‘so what’ as you use it to affect your marketing efforts and investments.

Keep Learning: 6 Essential Questions to Level Up your Boarding Program Marketing Strategy

At Metric Marketing, we develop measurable and practical strategies to help private and independent schools like yours to make the most of your marketing efforts. We'd love to discuss your private school's marketing requirements with you. Contact us today to speak with our marketing professionals or use the form  below to sign up and receive more marketing tips in your inbox.