Admission Funnel Report: NACCAP Enrollment Research Project

Last week the June 1 Funnel Report was finalized.  One hundred and seven of the 174 eligible NACCAP members submitted their data.  The paragraphs that follow summarize the results.  Participating members can see the member-by-member results at www.naccapresearch.org; non-participating members and others interested in the trend data can find what they need in this post, or by going to the Web site and clicking on the “view app report summary” tab.

With regard to potential first-year students:

• 81 (75.7%) are up and 26 (24.3%) are down in applications
• 77 (72%) are up and 30 (28%) are down in admits
• 67 (62.6%) are up, 3 ( 2.8%) are even and 37 (32.7%) are down in enrollment deposits

• 72 (67.3%) are up, 1 is even and 34 (31.8%) are down in applications
• 69 (64.5%) are up, 4 (3.7%) are even and 34 (31.8%) are down in admits
• 61 (57%) are up, 5 (4.7%) are even and 39 (36.5%) are down in deposits

• 82 (76.6%) are up and 25 (23.4%) are down in applications
• 74 (69.2%) are up and 33 (30.8%) are down in admits
• 68 (63.6%) are up, 5 (4.7%) are even and 34 (31.8%) are down in deposits

The study also asks participants to compare their fall 2010 new student goal with their actual fall 2009 new student total. 

In response:

• 81 members (75.7%) report that their fall 2010 goal is higher than their fall 2009 actual
• 4 (3.7%) report a goal that matches last year’s actual
• 21 (19.6%) report a goal that is lower than last year’s actual
• One institution did not report a fall 2010 goal

In total, these 107 institutions have set goals that would have them enrolling 3,315 more new students than last year, an average of 31 more new students per reporting member.  Since many members are in states where the number of high school graduates is declining, this suggests that to achieve these goals they will need to increase their market share of the remaining students.

The aggregate totals present another picture, interesting in part because of the strong possibilities of application overlap between members and the nature of this buyer’s market.  As you can see, the percentage increase in applications does not carry over to admits or deposits.

Aggregate Funnel Numbers – June 1 Funnel Report

It is only speculation to project how the 67 institutions that did not report their data are doing, but it seems reasonable to assume that their trends are no better and, in all likelihood, less positive than those who did report. If you have questions about this report and its implications, please contact Tim Fuller at tfuller@credohighered.com or (336) 585-1044.

Tim Fuller Senior Consultant