A published education comparison
Mailchimp's email marketing benchmark report reports a 35.64% average open rate and 3.02% average click rate for its Education + Training category. The report says its figures were last updated in December 2023 and cover tracked campaigns sent to at least 1,000 subscribers by users who reported their industry.
This is a broad education category, not a university-only sample. It is a historical comparison from one provider, not a target or a prediction for your institution. Audience, location, campaign type and how metrics are calculated may differ. Apple Mail Privacy Protection can affect open-rate accuracy.
Compare a campaign
Suppose a university delivers 10,000 emails and 300 unique recipients click. Its unique click rate is 300 ÷ 10,000 × 100 = 3%. That is close to Mailchimp's broad education figure, but one campaign cannot establish whether a programme is performing well. Compare similar messages and audiences over time.
Use the click-through rate calculator to calculate your own rate, then compare it with your institution's previous campaigns.
Segment before comparing
- Admissions: track applications started and completed, not only clicks.
- Current students: separate essential service messages from marketing campaigns.
- Alumni: compare event, newsletter and fundraising emails separately.
- Prospective students: test relevant course information and calls to action for each stage.
Where possible, define conversion windows and report delivered emails, unique clicks and the resulting action. Test send times for each audience rather than assuming a universal best time.
For a broader category overview, see education email benchmarks.
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Measure Your Own Email Performance
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