Like every university, FIU has a lot of programs and a lot of program pages! As new programs and pages are added or old pages are redesigned, you should consider the important details every program page should display.
That's not to say a checklist is all your program page should be. It's just a helpful framework for you to include all the important information prospective students want while promoting the unique aspects of your program.
Program Page Checklist
Every program page should include:
- Degree Type
- Cost
- Duration
- Admissions Requirements
- Course Outcomes
- Contact Information
- Call to Action
Degree Type
You need to let users know what type of program they're applying for. Is it a Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Arts? A master's program or a certificate?
It may seem like a no-brainer, but it's easy to get swept up in describing courses or requirements and forget to directly mention the degree's formal name. As a general rule, you should try to include this name in your introductory content, as soon as you can.
In our templates, we typically spell out the full, formal name right in the banner content.
Cost
Always let potential applicants know the cost of the program. A program's affordability is one of the top questions asked by prospective students.
For self-sustaining and market rate programs you are required to post the tuition.
There are different ways to present the cost of a program: tuition per credit, per year or per semester. Choose whichever fits best, as long as it's accurate and easy to understand.
Duration
How long is the program? It might seem like common sense, but even undergraduate degrees can vary in number of credits—sometimes requiring an additional semester!
Duration is an especially useful piece of information for graduate and accelerated degree programs, which often function on unique timetables in terms of semesters or credits.
Admissions Requirements
Depending on the complexity of your program's requirements, you might want a section specifying what students need to apply. Being open about requirements helps cut down on questions and improves the quality of the applicant pool.
Course Outcomes
Students are increasingly concerned about what a degree is worth and what it leads to. Including a section focused on outcomes can help outline the return on investment they could expect from your program.
An outcomes section can will depend on the content you have available. In its simplest form, you can list common careers associated with the degree. If you have a good connection with alumni, you might be able to add some alumni profiles or testimony. What matters is showing students what your program gives them access to after graduation.
Program Contacts
You can't answer every question with a program page, even if you get pretty close! For further questions, it's helpful to include contact information. We suggest keeping it simple, including an email and phone number for whoever is responsible for answering questions for a specific program, like a program manager or advisor.
Call to Action
The goal for most of these program pages is to turn prospective students into applicants. You should always include a call to action to apply. If it's a complicated application process that is not broken down anywhere, consider making a How to Apply page or module. Otherwise, link them to the appropriate application page or portal.
The same logic applies to whatever action you may want them to take: submitting forms, attending information sessions or anything else. They're done being informed and ready to take action, so give them an action to take!
Info at a Glance
A good way to most of the above information is with a Program at a Glance sidebar. Think of the At a Glance as an aside highlighting important program details in an easy-to-read format for potential applicants. Adding proper headings also makes this information easy to pick up with AI searches.
The At-a-Glance box is perfect for displaying short content, like cost. Longer content should be saved for the rest of your page.
If you have any questions about updating or improving your program pages, reach out to us at digimaint@fiu.edu. We believe these program pages are the most important pages on your website, so we're happy to help!