FREE 10+ College SWOT Analysis Samples in PDF | MS Word

Need help finding out which college to enroll to? What can actually help you decide on that is a SWOT analysis. Who says a SWOT analysis is just for business? It is popularly and commonly used in assessing and examining businesses but it has come to be useful in other industries outside of business, like in hospitals, in management, in health care, in restaurants, etc. So whoever said that it is just for business, knows nothing about it.

A SWOT analysis is considered as a useful tool that helps in identifying the strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats of an individual or organization. This is also true with colleges and universities. A SWOT analysis can help you decide which college will be able to provide you with what you want to learn and achieve. College SWOT analysis samples are also provided to serve as your visual aid. So let us go ahead and learn about a SWOT analysis.

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What Is a College Swot Analysis?

Deciding which college to take and which college best suits you is an important yet very tough decision to make. Before you make such decisions, you will need to have enough information about the colleges that you interested in. You can conduct an assessment that is called a SWOT analysis. SWOT is an acronym that stands for strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats. Gathering information about the college you wish to attend using a SWOT analysis will help you with deciding which college will best suit you.

A SWOT analysis is also a tool used to assess or examine how a certain college or university is doing and on what things they need to improve on in terms of the courses and educational services that they offer. The college’s management is responsible for conducting a SWOT analysis regularly and monitoring the changes that has been achieved for the past years since. Aside from the uses mentioned above, there are quite a lot of other uses of a SWOT analysis both for the students and for the management.

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What a SWOT Analysis Should Look Like?

Have you ever wondered what a SWOT analysis looks like? A SWOT analysis is pretty ordinary and simple. SWOT analysis templates regardless of purpose or use is presented as a box or rectangle that is equally divided in four. This makes up four smaller boxes, two on top and two at the bottom. The two boxes on top are labeled strengths and weakness and should be put beside each other. The two bottom boxes are labelled opportunities and threats and they are also put beside each other.

In a SWOT analysis, the factors that affects an  individual or entity are classified as internal factors and external factors. Strengths and weaknesses make up the internal factors because they are those things that can just be assessed from within and can be determined through observations. Opportunities and threats are considered external factors because they outside influences that has an impact on the business, both good and bad. Some SWOT analysis templates add the internal and external factors label on the outer part of the box.

This is how a SWOT analysis should look like. It is simple, but truly useful and informative. Just by looking at the SWOT analysis templates included in this article, you will be able to tell that it is something that is easy and convenient to use. Also try checking out other related article on our website, like Marketing SWOT Analysis Samples & Templates, Restaurant SWOT Analysis Samples & Templates, and Business SWOT Analysis Samples & Templates.

How to Conduct a SWOT Analysis

Now that you know what a SWOT analysis is and how useful it is, it’s about time we learn how to do it. Since there are only four components in a SWOT analysis, the steps taken to conduct one shouldn’t be that laborious and difficult. So here are some simple and easy steps to follow to help you practice conducting a SWOT analysis.

• What are your goals and objectives for conducting a SWOT analysis? Ask this question first before you start. You need to have  a goal or you need to focus on something to be able to conduct a successful SWOT analysis. This will also give direction to what you are planning to achieve after this.
• Prepare the SWOT analysis templates that you are going to use together with the guide questions. This will make the process go smoothly and it will be easier to do gather the data with a template and guide questions handy.
• You can either conduct the SWOT analysis yourself or assign a trusty employee to do it for you. This employee should be knowledgeable about the task you are assigning to them, otherwise you will have a failed SWOT analysis or a unreliable data gathered.
• Gather the data that you need for the analysis. Always start with the strengths followed by weakness and opportunities. The last one should be the threats. Make a list of them in a draft or scratch paper. You can also write them directly to the template. Use the guide questions that you have on the template, too.
• After gathering all the information that you can get, filter and prioritize your list. Make sure to put the most important and related ones on top of your list. This way it will be easy for you to analyze the situation or position that you are in.
• Once you have all everything in place, it is time to analyze the data you have gathered based on the goals and objectives that you have set. This is also the time where you can start planning a strategy that will best help you in solving problems and making improvements.
• There are also guide questions that you can use as reference in analyzing the data that you have gathered and they are the following:
  • How can you turn weaknesses into strengths?
  • How can you convert strengths into opportunities?
  • How can you eliminate threats and weaknesses through your the determined strengths and opportunities?
  • How can you make the most of your identified strengths.
  • How can you take advantage of the identified opportunities that are open to you?

Follow the steps provided above until you are able to create your own way of conducting a SWOT analysis or until you feel comfortable doing it. There are actually a number of ways on how to do it and it is all up to you which one you feel like following. It’s really all about preferences and appropriateness. You may also check out articles, like HR SWOT Analysis Samples & Templates, Hotel SWOT Analysis Samples & Templates, and Retail SWOT Analysis Samples &Templates.

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Tips in Creating an Effective College SWOT Analysis

Want to make your SWOT analysis better? Then check out these tips to help you improve on your SWOT analysis, even if you are a beginner.

• Write clearly and concisely. A lot of confusion arises from unclear and ambiguous outputs and that just kills everything. A group of people will be reading and checking out the SWOT analysis output so it should be written in a way that everybody will understand.
• Another thing to remember is to always use simple words. Using difficult words may also cause misunderstanding. If you really must use jargons or technical words, provide a page intended for the definition of those terms.
• A SWOT analysis fosters group communication. This is also a way for you to effectively gather SWOT information. Ask employees or members of your team regarding what they think about things related to what you are working on. This way you will be able to realize the things that you have not taken into consideration before.
• A schedule of activities is important. Everything will be chaotic and disorganized if you just do as you please. If you are working with a team, it is a must that you provide a schedule for everyone to follow.
• Use a SWOT analysis template that you are comfortable using or one that is relevant to what you are trying to do. Ready made and printable templates will also make the process easy and convenient.
• Include all the important information in your SWOT analysis but still make sure to keep it short and simple.

If you remember these tips, then you are sure to create one useful SWOT analysis. To learn more Bout SWOT analysis and other related articles, feel free check them out on our website.  Some of the titles that you surely find interesting are Detailed SWOT Analysis Samples & Templates, Hospital SWOT Analysis Samples & Templates, and Health Care SWOT Analysis Samples and Templates.