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IU hopes to lure students with 360-degree campus viewers

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) – Indiana University officials eager to boost enrollment have mailed cardboard viewers to thousands of prospective students who can use them to take a 360-degree virtual tour of the Bloomington campus.

About 8,000 Indiana residents accepted by IU but who haven’t decided where they’ll attend college were mailed viewers last month. They can put their smartphones in them and download an app to take a 360-degree campus tour.

Vice provost of enrollment management David Johnson says only about half of the applicants accepted by IU plan to visit campus before deciding where they’ll attend college.

He says that’s a shame, so IU is bringing the campus to those potential students.

Johnson tells The Herald-Times more than 1,500 people have used one of the virtual tour apps so far.