The 15 questions every prospect asks before enrolling

Your prospects all ask the same questions. Here they are.

89% of prospective students want to know about tuition fees before anything else. The second question concerns career outcomes (84%), the third is about work placements and co-op terms (78%). This is not guesswork: it comes from an analysis of 12,000 chatbot conversations between September 2025 and February 2026.

If you work in admissions, you know these questions by heart. Your team probably answers them 200 times a month — by phone, by email, at fairs, at open house events. Yet most university and college websites bury the answers in PDFs or pages three clicks from the main navigation.

This article ranks the 15 most frequent questions by recurrence, grouped into three blocks: finances, program, and practical life. For each one, you will find the raw data and what it means for your admissions strategy.

The complete ranking of the 15 questions

Before the detail, here is the overview. Percentages indicate the share of conversations in which each question appears at least once.

• 1. "What are the tuition fees?" — 89%
• 2. "What are the career outcomes after graduation?" — 84%
• 3. "Do you offer co-op or work placement options?" — 78%
• 4. "How much does it cost to live on campus or in the city?" — 71%
• 5. "What are the payment options?" — 49%
• 6. "What are the admission requirements?" — 65%
• 7. "How many months of co-op or work placement are included?" — 61%
• 8. "Is the degree recognized and accredited?" — 58%
• 9. "What is student life like?" — 52%
• 10. "What international exchange programs are available?" — 67%
• 11. "When is the next open house?" — ~45%
• 12. "How do I submit an application?" — ~42%
• 13. "Is student housing available?" — ~38%
• 14. "What student clubs and associations exist?" — ~33%
• 15. "Is the university accessible for students with disabilities?" — ~28%

Source: analysis of 12,000 chatbot conversations, Skolbot, Sep 2025 — Feb 2026. Ranks 11 to 15 are extrapolated from session replay and internal site search data.

The 5 questions about finances (ranks 1 to 5)

1. "What are the tuition fees?" — 89%

The prospect wants a number, not a redirect to a viewbook download. Tuition at Canadian universities varies widely — from around $6,000 CAD per year for domestic students in Quebec to $30,000 CAD or more at some professional programs — and the figure must be visible on the program page.

The paradox: 89% of prospects ask this question even though the information is theoretically on the website (Source: Skolbot analysis, 12,000 conversations, 2025-2026). It is usually buried in a PDF or accessible only after requesting a viewbook. The QS International Student Survey confirms that cost remains the top decision criterion for 78% of international students.

2. "What are the career outcomes after graduation?" — 84%

Prospects want three things: the employment rate at six months, the median starting salary, and concrete examples of job titles. Not a paragraph about "numerous opportunities."

Statistics Canada publishes graduate outcome data that you can cite directly. Under the quality assurance frameworks administered by Universities Canada and provincial bodies, institutions are expected to provide transparent outcome data. A prospect who cannot find employment figures leaves your site — they visit 4.7 institutions on average before asking their first question.

3. "Do you offer co-op or work placement options?" — 78%

Co-op programs have moved from niche to mainstream across Canada. Pioneered by institutions like the University of Waterloo, the co-op model has become a decisive factor for prospective students across all provinces. The question masks a financial concern: a paid co-op term offsets tuition costs and builds the resume. Answer by specifying which programs include a co-op stream and the employer placement rate.

4. "How much does it cost to live on campus or in the city?" — 71%

The prospect wants to estimate their total monthly budget: residence fees, transit, groceries. Publish a "typical student budget" on your admissions page. EduCanada and provincial student aid offices provide national averages you can contextualize for your city — whether that is Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, or Halifax.

5. "What are the payment options?" — 49%

Student loans, bursaries, scholarships, instalment plans? Half of prospects explicitly ask about funding. In Ontario, most full-time undergraduates access loans through OSAP, while students in other provinces apply through their provincial aid program and the Canada Student Loans Program. The answer should sit on the same page as the fees, not behind a separate tab.

The 5 questions about the program (ranks 6 to 10)

6. "What are the admission requirements?" — 65%

The prospect wants to know whether they have a realistic chance before investing time. Grade 12 averages (or CEGEP cote R in Quebec), prerequisite courses, and English or French language proficiency thresholds for international applicants: be factual. If you recruit through OUAC or another provincial application centre, specify both the minimum and competitive averages and any subject prerequisites. Ambiguity generates drop-off.

7. "How many months of co-op or work placement are included?" — 61%

One term? A full year? Optional or mandatory? The prospect is planning their career trajectory as much as their studies. Programs accredited by relevant professional bodies — Engineers Canada, CPA Canada, or the Law Society — can cite mandatory practicum hours as a credibility signal.

8. "Is the degree recognized and accredited?" — 58%

Universities Canada membership, professional accreditations (AACSB or EQUIS for business schools, Engineers Canada for engineering, CPA for accounting), and provincial quality assurance: prospects — and especially their parents — want guarantees. Do not assume the prospect understands the difference between a college diploma and a university degree, or between institutional and program-level accreditation.

9. "What is student life like?" — 52%

This question comes later in the conversation, once financial and academic aspects are settled. The prospect is trying to picture themselves on your campus. The most effective answers are visual — campus photos, student video testimonials — not lists of clubs.

10. "What international exchange programs are available?" — 67%

Semester abroad, dual degree, summer school: the prospect wants destinations and first-hand accounts. Institutions with partnerships through Global Affairs Canada, membership in Universities Canada exchange networks, or agreements with universities in the QS World University Rankings should highlight this explicitly.

The 5 questions about practical life (ranks 11 to 15)

11. "When is the next open house?" — ~45%

Between October and March — the peak of the admissions cycle — this is the most searched piece of information. If it requires more than one click from the homepage, you are losing sign-ups.

12. "How do I submit an application?" — ~42%

Which documents, which deadline, which portal. A downloadable checklist reduces clarification emails. For Ontario applicants, a step-by-step timeline of the OUAC application cycle is invaluable. For students in other provinces, link to your institution's direct application process or the relevant provincial application centre.

13. "Is student housing available?" — ~38%

Residence halls, off-campus housing partnerships, shared apartments: housing is a deciding factor for students relocating. With housing costs a major concern in cities like Toronto and Vancouver, a visible link to your residence and housing service is essential.

14. "What student clubs and associations exist?" — ~33%

Student unions, athletic teams, cultural and volunteering clubs: the prospect is assessing the richness of campus life. This is a differentiation criterion between institutions of comparable academic standing.

15. "Is the university accessible for students with disabilities?" — ~28%

This question directly concerns the growing population of students with declared disabilities. Under the Canadian Human Rights Act and provincial accessibility legislation such as the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), institutions are required to provide accommodations. The answer should name the accessibility or disability services office, available accommodations, and the process for requesting support.

What these questions reveal

Three findings emerge from this analysis.

67% of questions are asked outside office hours, peaking on Sundays between 8 pm and 9 pm (Source: Skolbot interaction logs, 200,000 sessions, Oct 2025 — Feb 2026). Your admissions team finishes at 5 pm. Your prospects start searching at 8 pm. This mismatch is a major blind spot.

72% of questions are basic FAQs — "how much does it cost" or "when is the open house" — that require no human expertise to answer (Source: automatic classification, Skolbot, 12,000 conversations). Only 7% genuinely need a human adviser. The rest is available information, poorly distributed.

Prospects visit 4.7 pages on average before asking their first question (Source: analytics and session replay, 15,000 journeys, 2025-2026 cycle). This figure rises to 5.2 for U15 research universities.

The pattern is consistent: the information exists, but the prospect cannot find it fast enough. The issue is not creating content — it is making it accessible at the right moment, including at 9 pm on a Sunday.

How to answer these 15 questions around the clock

The most direct approach is to restructure your website so that each question finds its answer in fewer than two clicks. Display fees on the program page. Publish open house dates on the homepage. Create a living FAQ, not a static PDF.

To go further, an AI chatbot trained on your institution's data can take over when your team is unavailable. Skolbot data shows that institutions with a chatbot reduce their bounce rate from 68% to 41%, a drop of nearly 40%. Session duration rises from 1 min 45 s to 4 min 12 s.

This is not about replacing your advisers. It is about freeing their time for the 7% of cases that genuinely need human expertise — personalized guidance, contextual offers, complex cases involving international student recruitment.

What Gen Z expects from a university website is the same thing they expect from any online service: an instant answer, available when they need it.

FAQ

Where does this data come from?

Ranks 1 to 10 come from the analysis of 12,000 chatbot conversations (Skolbot, Sep 2025 — Feb 2026, panel of 50 institutions). Ranks 11 to 15 combine session replay and internal site search data (15,000 journeys).

Are these questions the same for all institutions?

The top 5 is stable regardless of institution type. Variations appear in the lower ranks: more accreditation questions for engineering programs, more dual-degree questions at business schools. The common core remains fees, career outcomes, and co-op placements.

Why do 67% of questions arrive outside office hours?

Prospects are primarily Grade 12 students or those considering a change of program. Their research window corresponds to their free time: evenings and weekends. During the OUAC deadline period (January), this rate climbs to 74%.

How can I use this ranking practically?

Check that the answers to the top five questions are accessible in fewer than two clicks on your website. If the answer about tuition fees requires downloading a viewbook, you have a conversion problem, not a content problem.

Can a chatbot really answer all of these questions?

72% of them, yes — without human intervention. The remaining 21% need institution-specific context, and the 7% of complex questions should be escalated to an adviser. A well-configured chatbot handles all three scenarios.