Vendors that pick up on trends in technology usage by the teenage demographic and apply them to the needs of university IT departments, faculty and admissions offices will see increased interest in their products and services.

In order to connect with current and potential students, colleges are increasingly utilizing technology that replicates applications that these groups use on an everyday basis.

To help facilitate interactions with the growing segment of the high school population that might have a nervous breakdown if they go more than a day without checking on their Facebook or MySpace pages, universities are utilizing social networking applications as recruiting tools. Admissions officers have found that students are much more receptive to these applications than traditional email correspondence.

For years many schools have required that students purchase certain models of computers, or included them as part of the tuition, but some smaller schools have begun to experiment with providing smart phones to incoming students, and developing websites specifically for these devices. If these efforts prove to be successful expect this trend to migrate to larger campuses.

Video publishing and editing software has been employed by schools that choose to post lectures online in YouTube fashion. These applications are not only helpful for students who oversleep, but are a powerful tool for universities seeking to expand their distance learning programs.