The campus visit with its requisite school tour and interview- a boarding school a tradition and right of passage- have, like so much, come under economic and social pressure as families push against busy home, school and work schedules as well as financing a single purpose trip to visit a prospective school.

Affording such a trip- airline tickets, hotel rooms, rental car- as well as missing work is a daunting proposition. The costs and the time add up and can seem prohibitive to interested families.

But, as a people business working the fluid and imprecise world of adolescence, boarding schools continue wanting to meet student and family as they all work to find the best fit for the student.

A few schools have gone the college route, bringing alumni into the fold as admission interviewers across the country. In these situations, families meet with the local alumni representative on an afternoon, weekend or evening with the alumnus providing feedback to the admission office.

Many schools will also arrange interviews with traveling admission officers when they visit a family’s city or town. Others use tools like Skype to conduct interviews via the web.

These approaches are quick, local and convenient. But, the school never meets the student face to face and student and family miss the opportunity to experience the school first hand. Out of necessity, admission offices use the off campus, alumni interview, or virtual interview. But it’s an imprecise tool, short on building the connections between school and family.

A $25,000 challenge grant has allowed American Hebrew Academy to respond to family time and financial constraints in way that I’ve never seen before in the boarding school world.

The grant, from the family of a recent alumnus, will reimburse prospective families and students visiting campus under auspices of the Academy’s Honor Society up to $250.

Through American Hebrew the donors explained:

“The Academy was a transformative experience for our daughter and we have been searching for ways to give back. As anyone who has visited the campus can attest, a visit is ‘priceless.’ Our first visit to the campus literally ‘took our breath away.’ In addition to the world class education the Academy offers, we believe a visit is an incredibly powerful recruitment tool. We are honored to be able to contribute in this way.”

The grant will support the all important of step of connecting the prospective family to the school through a personal campus visit.

Leslie Grossman, American Hebrew admission director explains:

“Statistically, we know that 90% of mission appropriate students who visit the Academy will ultimately enroll. This incentive program marks an important step in the Academy’s ability to attract students and reduce costs for families.”

This creative solution might serve as an industry catalyst in spurring creative approaches and offers as admission offices work to maintain broad and diverse applicant pools.

See, “American Hebrew Academy Receives $25,000 Grant To Support Honor Society Travel Stipends…” on Facebook.