The Art and Science of Enrollment Management
by Cezar Mesquita
On select Saturdays throughout the year, our campus comes alive as dozens of high school students hurry to classrooms to take part in the American College Testing: the ACT. These young men and women will join the approximate 1.2 million students across the nation who will take the ACT in 2007/2008 (another 1.4 million will take the SAT, sponsored by the College Board) as one step of many during the college selection process.
Being on campus is not the only Doane connection. One of the co-founders of the ACT was Ralph Tyler, class of 1921. Tyler impacted instruction, assessment and testing in many ways, and his work is widely recognized as some of the most influential in the education arena. It is connections like these that help create each student's college journey.
The fall and winter seasons also mark a rite of passage for enrollment managers and admission officers. Gears quickly turn from matriculating the incoming first-year class to recruiting the next crop of students. The definition of enrollment management is "an organizational concept and set of systematic activities whose purpose is to manage student enrollment."1 To put these concepts and activities into practice is to balance the art and science of enrollment management.
Consider these "science" questions:
- Of the 2.6 million test-takers, to whom should we mail information about Doane? Our goal is for students to respond back in some way: meeting with an admission counselor during high school visits or college fairs, visiting campus, or submitting an application for admission.
- How do we craft our communications (web, electronic, print, personal) so more students consider Doane? Nebraska's high schools graduate about 11,500 students annually. Of those, only 56 percent will enroll in college immediately after graduation, and of those, only about 11 percent will attend a private institution in our state.
- How do we manage resources to meaningfully engage each of the 13,000 students who will inquire about Doane this year? They will take us up on the brochure we mailed, register for an athletic camp, participate in a musical or theatre festival, or join a campus tour.
- How do we allocate financial resources to recognize each student's past accolades and potential contributions while adhering to fiscal guidelines? Every year we evaluate 1,000-1,300 applications, looking to enroll around 300 new students. Each student may impact the college's academic excellence, athletic competitiveness, campus life, vibrancy and richness in diversity.
These are just a few questions considered as we balance priorities when mixing and shaping each incoming class. National trends also impact how we communicate with 17-year-olds and their parents. In a recent survey of 30,000 students, they ranked these items as the top five factors impacting their decision to enroll at a college:2
| | 4-Year Private
| 4-Year Public |
| Availability of Financial Aid | 78.9%
| 75.1% |
| Academic Reputation | 76.8% | 71.9% |
| Cost | 72.1% | 81.0% |
| Personalized Attention | 66.3% | 57.7%
|
| Campus Appearance | 60.4% | 58.3% |
I would confidently guess that for Doane "personalized attention" would move up a spot or two. To that extent, you start to understand the art side of enrollment management.
Doane is a place where people understand the value of education and the outcomes it will produce. Where people come to make lasting relationships. Where faculty, staff, students, parents and alumni are part of a whole which extends its legacy through the power of the human connection. Institutionally speaking, this power is what every college and university - every marketer for that matter - hopes to capitalize upon. Technology, data, reports and charts are simply scientific tools which support the art of connecting people with one another.
These connections happen in many ways as prospective students and families visit our campuses: a tour guide's cheerful disposition; a professor's friendship with the choir director back home; financial aid staff assisting families with documentation; a coach mailing a postcard following a playoff win; an admission counselor's phone call that an application was received. These "touch points" are all difficult, if not impossible, to quantify yet their overall impact is most significant.
Every day we are faced with messages, most of which we delete. But what does last are the connections that we as Doane representatives make on prospective students and their families. Connections that are more powerful than any blog or brochure. In admission, we are in the business of recruiting alumni. We hope all students connect while at Doane and stay connected long after.
1. Hossler, D., Bena, J. P. & Associates, eds. (1990). The strategic management of college enrollments. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, Inc.
2. Noel-Levitz (2007). Why Did They Enroll: The Factors Influencing College Choice (June). Iowa City, IA.