Education fairs are a great way for schools, universities, graduate programs, and other educational institutions or programs to engage with current or prospective students.

Not everyone will be able to visit campus to tour your institution or meet with representatives directly, but you can still give them an immersive virtual experience with a virtual education fair.  

Here’s what you need to know to plan one for your educational program or institution. 

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Why Host a Virtual Education Fair 

Virtual education fairs allow educational institutions to reach a wider audience of prospective students.

Universities, summer programs, and boarding schools often attract students from all over the country. It’s not always feasible for all applicants and their parents to travel for an in-person education fair –– particularly in the current climate. Virtual education fairs make information on your programs accessible to people all across the country and provide an ideal venue for prospective students and parents to get their questions answered. 

Attending a virtual education fair requires no travel and thus a minimal time commitment, so you’re also more likely to be able to engage prospects who are largely undecided or have a more casual interest in your program. This gives you an opportunity to convert them to applicants by showcasing your campus, program benefits, and having admissions staff engage with them for a personalized overview of how your program can suit their educational interests.

Online education is also becoming more common, and while online learning isn’t everyone’s preference, many students do find that it fits their learning styles and lifestyles better. If you are offering online classes or programs, a virtual education fair is a great way to connect with current and prospective online students as well. These students are often left out of campus events and may feel a weaker sense of school spirit as a result, but with the right virtual event platform, you can create virtual education fairs and other events to make them feel connected with your school or program. 

Virtual Education Fair Use Cases 

Virtual education fairs can be customized to create experiences that meet the needs and interests of your student body. 

University Open Day  

Showcase your university educational programs with virtual content, including course catalogues, videos, and virtual tours. An immersive virtual tour will allow students to get a better feel for your campus all from the comfort of their own homes. Students want to know where they will be spending their time, so show them the campus, classrooms, library, dining hall, and dorms.

Make use of virtual exhibition booths to allow students to stop by booths dedicated to colleges within the university, program advisors, admissions representatives, and financial aid assistants. Navigating the admissions process can be confusing. Having someone to talk to about financial aid, application requirements, what classes are available, and other frequently asked questions can help alleviate stress for your prospective students and their parents. 

It can also be fun to have networking chats or booths dedicated to student activities such as clubs, athletics, student government, or Greek life, so that prospective or incoming students can interact with current students who share their interests and learn about how to get involved on campus. 

College Fairs for High School Students 

Bring together representatives from a variety of colleges, universities, and trade schools to help high school students start planning for their life after graduation. 

Make sure to pick a platform, like Social27 Virtual Event Platform for example, that allows vendors to build customized and branded exhibition booths so that students get the opportunity to learn about each school and interact with booth representatives to ask questions. 

Hands-On Instructional Events for Students

Virtual education fairs can also be used to provide hands-on instructional and educational experiences for students. They can include workshops on things like how to fill out FAFSA for federal financial aid, or they can provide program-specific educational experiences.

Consider inviting a member of your faculty to host a short introductory class on a popular subject to help students get excited about learning at your school and help them understand what a class would be like. This can be a guest lecture, or it can be something hands-on like an art class depending on the type of classes and instruction your institution provides.

Virtual Education Fairs for Admitted Students 

You’ve admitted a number of students, but how will they know that your school is the right choice? Host a virtual education fair to help them learn about the opportunities that your program provides and verify that it will be the right fit for them.

The University of Washington School of Medicine used Social27 Virtual Event Platform to host their Second Look event for admitted students. UW School of Medicine used their event to share content with admitted students, highlight current faculty, and help students start to build a sense of community with one another.

They also made use of Social27 Virtual Event Platform’s Recommendation and Prediction Engine to survey students on their areas of interest and direct students to content and sessions that best fit their interests. Virtual events can help you provide a more personalized experience to each attendee, which is perfect for education fairs as each prospective student has their own educational interests and goals to explore. 

Host Your Virtual Education Fair with Social27 Virtual Event Platform 

Ready to create a virtual education fair experience that will help students learn about your programs and get excited about their educational opportunities?

Social27 can help you get started on your virtual event journey today. 

Book a demo today to learn how you can bring your campus and educational programs to life in an interactive virtual format.