How a Bucknell University podcast goes inside the world of college admissions

With rapid growth and popularity of podcasts — an estimated 140 million Americans are expected to listen to podcasts in 2022, up by 20 million from 2021 — it’s no surprise higher education institutions are turning to the booming medium to share their stories and bolster their reputation.

Bucknell’s College Admissions Insider podcast launched in October 2020 with the goal of becoming a trusted adviser to anyone who needs help demystifying the college admissions process. Each episode pulls back the curtain on enrollment operations while helping families of college-bound students feel supported and empowered.

What makes Bucknell’s podcast so unique is its broad focus that’s intentionally not Bucknell specific. A listener doesn’t need to be familiar with the Pennsylvania liberal arts institution or have a child planning to apply to the school to find value in the show. It’s for anyone who needs guidance deciphering the financial-aid process, calculating weighted GPAs or understanding the difference between test-optional and test-flexible schools. Bucknell has experts lined up — and mic'd up — to help.

After two years and 50 episodes, Bucknell now has an official hit on its hands. Total podcast downloads are up year-over-year and recently topped 35,000. More importantly, Bucknell leaders say College Admissions Insider helped the university increase applications by 12% in 2021 and set application records two years running.

“The increase in applications is a testament to Bucknell’s strategic marketing initiatives,” said Lisa Keegan, Bucknell’s vice president for enrollment management. “The power of a podcast is that it can reach people anywhere. With applications from international students and students from the South and West on the rise, it’s clear our efforts to expand our reach are working.”

Here’s an inside look at Bucknell’s College Admissions Insider:

How it began

In the early months of the pandemic, Bucknell was confronted with the same conundrum as every other college: How do you get prospective students interested in your school when they can’t come to campus?

Bucknell addressed this issue in several ways. In addition to becoming one of the few U.S. universities to launch its own admissions podcast, Bucknell also created self-guided audio tours and a virtual reality experience, which enabled visitors to explore campus through a phone, web browser or Oculus headset.

Stevie Blyler, digital marketing strategist, first championed the idea of creating a podcast to broaden Bucknell’s audience and subtly introduce itself to those unfamiliar with the institution.

"It allowed us to reach more people in a different way and through an easily consumable format,” Blyler said.

The team also launched a companion digital blog, which further explores universal admissions themes.

College Admissions Insider Podcast Hosts Becca Haupt Aldredge and Brooke Thames. Photo credit: Emily Paine, Bucknell University

With rapid growth and popularity of podcasts — an estimated 140 million Americans listened to podcasts in 2022, up by 20 million in 2021 — it’s no surprise higher education institutions are turning to the booming medium to share their stories and bolster their reputation.

Bucknell’s College Admissions Insider podcast launched in October 2020 with the goal of becoming a trusted adviser to anyone who needs help demystifying the college admissions process. Each episode pulls back the curtain on enrollment operations while helping families of college-bound students feel supported and empowered.

What makes Bucknell’s podcast so unique is its broad focus that’s intentionally not Bucknell specific. A listener doesn’t need to be familiar with the Pennsylvania liberal arts institution or have a child planning to apply to the school to find value in the show. It’s for anyone who needs guidance deciphering the financial-aid process, calculating weighted GPAs or understanding the difference between test-optional and test-flexible schools. Bucknell has experts lined up — and mic'd up — to help.

After two years and 50 episodes, Bucknell now has an official hit on its hands. Total podcast downloads are up year-over-year and recently topped 35,000. More importantly, Bucknell leaders say College Admissions Insider helped the university increase applications by 12% in 2021 and set application records two years running.

“The increase in applications is a testament to Bucknell’s strategic marketing initiatives,” said Lisa Keegan, Bucknell’s vice president for Enrollment Management. “The power of a podcast is that it can reach people anywhere. With applications from international students and students from the South and West on the rise, it’s clear our efforts to expand our reach are working.”

Here’s an inside look at Bucknell’s College Admissions Insider:

How it began

In the early months of the pandemic, Bucknell was confronted with the same conundrum as every other college: How do you get prospective students interested in your school when they can’t come to campus?

Bucknell addressed this issue in several ways. In addition to becoming one of the few U.S. universities to launch its own admissions podcast, Bucknell also created self-guided audio tours and a virtual reality experience, which enabled visitors to explore campus through a phone, web browser or Oculus headset.

Stevie Blyler, digital marketing strategist, first championed the idea of creating a podcast to broaden Bucknell’s audience and subtly introduce itself to those unfamiliar with the institution.

"It allowed us to reach more people in a different way and through an easily consumable format,” Blyler said.

The team also launched a companion digital blog, which further explores universal admissions themes.

College Admissions Insider Podcast Hosts Becca Haupt Aldredge and Brooke Thames. *Photo credit: Emily Paine, Bucknell University*

College Admissions Insider Podcast Hosts Becca Haupt Aldredge and Brooke Thames. *Photo credit: Emily Paine, Bucknell University*

The show

The podcast is a collaboration between Bucknell’s communications and admissions offices. The show is co-hosted by Brooke Thames, senior writer for admissions communications, and Becca Haupt Aldredge, a senior assistant director of admissions. Neither host has a broadcasting background, but their combined knowledge of the admissions process and their ability to break down complex topics and communicate clearly has enabled them to thrive in their new roles.

A new episode of College Admissions Insider drops every other Monday. Each show runs for about 20 to 30 minutes. Show topics follow the college admissions cycle: Summer episodes include information about college visits; fall episodes cover the application process; spring is the time to delve into the decision and enrollment process.

Thames and Aldredge interview members of the Bucknell community who are experts in these areas and have experience to share.

By the numbers

Bucknell’s podcast venture started slowly. The first episode (“Choosing a College Without Visiting”) aired Oct. 19, 2020. By month’s end, it had been downloaded just 120 times.

But things quickly picked up. More than 500 episodes were downloaded the next month. Today, average monthly downloads range between 1,500 and 2,000. The most popular episode so far (“Inside the Mind of an Application Reader”) exceeded 2,600 downloads.

By the end of Year 1, episodes of College Admissions Insider had been downloaded more than 15,000 times. In Year 2, the number of downloads has passed 20,000 — and counting.

This steady growth didn’t happen by accident. Bucknell has promoted the podcast by including links in emails to parents and prospective students, by posting episode clips on social media and advertising on Google, social media, video sites and podcast platforms.

“We didn’t just make a podcast and leave it in a silo,” said Leah Mallett, associate director of marketing strategy. “It’s a big part of our overall content strategy.”

_{Photo credit: Emily Paine, Bucknell University}

Behind the scenes

Bucknell’s four-person podcast team — Brooke Thames, Becca Haupt Aldredge, Stevie Blyler and Kim Faulk — meets weekly to kick around ideas for episodes. Ideas come from a variety of sources: team members, keywords and search volume statistics from Blyler’s research, and occasionally from listeners. Faulk, content strategy assistant, schedules the recording sessions.

The week before each episode, Thames and Aldredge hold a 30-minute pre-recording session over Zoom to learn more about the topic, develop questions and coach their guests.

“People tend to be a little bit nervous,” Aldredge said. “The misconception is that it’s live. Everyone tends to think that they have to make sure they say everything perfectly the first time. They’re relieved they can edit themselves on the fly as needed.”

Thames then drafts potential questions, which are reviewed by the team, and writes the intro. After recording, Thames reviews the edited podcast and written transcript before they go live.

“It would be easy to get overwhelmed if it was just me and Becca doing all of these things,” Thames said. “Our podcast team is small, but one of the reasons it works so well is because all of our bases are covered. Each of us is responsible for something different.”

To record each show, the co-hosts and guests find separate quiet spaces at home or at their offices. The podcast conversation is held over Zoom, and portable USB microphones capture the audio. Except for the audio editing, which is sent to an outside production company, the entire podcast is done in house.

“It seems very simple to get a couple of microphones and sit down and talk,” Thames said. “But there’s a lot of work, planning and intentionality into creating episodes.”

What’s next

As College Admissions Insider heads into Year 3, the team is tackling more ambitious topics, including a two-part episode to dive into study abroad and a three-part series on financial aid — a topic even more complicated than admissions. Some popular topics might warrant a repeat episode in part because the audience for college admissions content, like the applicants themselves, turns over regularly. Recent episodes have focused on accessibility, student mental health, and diversity, equity and inclusion on campus.

Throughout it all, Bucknell’s podcast team hasn’t lost sight of its mission: to demystify the college admissions process for all families.

“I think that’s what makes the podcast so special,” Aldredge said. “We are promoting Bucknell, but in a way that is genuinely trying to be helpful to all students in the admissions process. That’s good work for us to be doing.”

Want to listen?

To listen to Bucknell University’s College Admissions Insider podcast, click here. The show is available at Spotify, Stitcher, Pandora, Apple, Google and other platforms.

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Photo credit: Emily Paine, Bucknell University

This content was paid for by Bucknell University and produced by Inside Higher Ed's sponsored content team. The editorial staff of Inside Higher Ed had no role in its preparation.