Grow Enrollment the Right Way

How can you grow enrollment on your campus when today’s students have so many options in higher education?

The foundation of strategic enrollment planning is an innovative campus culture that promotes clarity, collaboration and positive outcomes. With our innovative approach to enrollment planning, many of our campuses have experienced measurable enrollment gains, and so can your institution.

Here are a few of our key tools for enhancing college enrollment on your campus:

Put the Right Leadership in Place

To grow student enrollment, the right leadership team should have the ability to think creatively. Leaders should be trailblazers and excellent communicators, with the ability to see above the trees for the bigger picture.

In order to grow enrollment on your campus, leaders must be able to envision a plan that looks three to five years into the future, incorporating the best contemporary strategies to achieve enrollment goals.

Work as a Team

Enhancing college enrollment is a campus-wide effort. Encourage your admissions team and other campus stakeholders to work together consistently. When you focus on an inclusive enrollment planning process, you attract best-fit students and best-fit faculty and staff.  Open planning sessions and information-sharing protocols ensure campus stakeholders are engaged with enrollment efforts.

To really work as a team, there needs to be a system of accountability in place. Regular, structured meetings that tackle smaller initiatives are a great way to keep teams on task and motivated towards the larger goal of student enrollment.

Implement Strategic Data Collection

Collecting data is critical to enhancing college enrollment. As we’ve said before, you can never have enough data, but you can have too much. Our useful research tools are a great way to narrow the focus of quality data collection, giving you the ability to turn that research data into tangible actions.

Start by asking yourself what a significant step in student enrollment looks like for your school. Then, identify measurable metrics for that goal. For example, one measurable metric is the percentage of new students who graduate in four years. If a large percentage of students are graduating on time, develop initiatives to admit and enroll a larger number of students to enhance enrollment.

Incorporate a Strategic Enrollment Plan

Incorporating a strategic enrollment plan will mobilize your entire campus toward the goal of enhanced enrollment. Using these tools, your campus will not only survive, but thrive in today’s educational economy.

Integrate Academics and Co-Curricular Programs

Use the data you’ve collected to identify different student pipelines for effective and efficient recruiting efforts. For example, consider using your honors program as a pipeline to enhance enrollment. An honors program attracts high-achieving students that are most likely to graduate. Successful honors programs are most effective when they combine academics and extracurricular activities in an inclusive environment.

A healthy mix of academics and extracurricular programming promote a well-rounded institution to prospective students and parents, and motivates retention of currently enrolled students. Use magnet majors and popular co-curricular groups to your advantage by marketing those as part of your campus brand message.

Send a Clear Brand Message

When enrollment lags, the first question institutions ask is “Why didn’t they choose us?” Focus on your value proposition from the very beginning. When you have a compelling brand vision and voice, you can better articulate measurable outcomes when students and parents ask, “Why this school?”.

One way to answer this question is to track student success outcomes, such as internship participation and job placement rates. Use this data to tell success stories from both recent alumni and current students involved in research, study abroad programs and professional internships.

Build Alumni Relationships

Your institution’s relationship with students doesn’t stop after graduation. Partnering with your school’s alumni office can be a great way to enhance college enrollment. Legacy students are more likely to attend your institution, so establishing a system of gathering the information of alumni children and grandchildren can be instrumental in enrollment efforts.

Ready to Take the Next Step?

When trying to grow your enrollment the right way, a higher education consulting firm can help you align your vision, your team and your goals.  to learn more about how we can help you achieve your enrollment goals.