enrollment strategies

Comprehensive Consulting for Independent

Colleges & Universities

Segmenting Traditional Undergraduates for Strategic Growth

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INTRODUCTION

WHAT DOES THE RESEARCH TELL US?

WHAT TOOLS CAN HELP US BEST FIND THE RIGHT FRESHMEN?

HOW CAN YOU USE THOSE TOOLS FOR MAXIMUM EFFECTIVENESS?

THE CREDO DIFFERENCE

Independent higher education, now more than ever, must communicate and prove a value

proposition above all else. Students don’t attend your institution because of the price

tag—they attend despite it, because you have proven your value to who they are and who

they want to become. How do we define value in this scenario? Simply put, value is equal

to what I pay vs. what I get.

What we know is that the value of “what I get” looks different to every student. The days

of a singular elevator speech are long gone—there’s not one value proposition for all

students. How a first-generation student judges value is enormously different from how

value is judged by someone with a long family tradition of higher education, for example.

Since each student will come to the university with a unique set of experiences and needs,

those of us in enrollment must listen more than we talk to uncover the unique value for which

each prospect is searching and his or her dominant buying motive. Through this careful

listening, we can be better prepared to individualize messaging for each segmented

population of prospects in ways that best relate and connect with that segment.

TRADITIONAL FRESHMEN The national body of first-time full-time freshmen is our biggest, most reliable core

audience. Though this group is changing rapidly, there are still aspects of their college

search process that we can pinpoint as crucial in their decision-making.

To best recruit this population, we will break down:

(1) What the research tells us about them

(2) What tools can help us reach them

(3) How we can best put these tools into practice

INTRODUCTION

VALUE = WHAT I PAY / WHAT I GET

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What Does The Research Tell Us?

Each year, Credo conducts Admitted Student Research (ASR) with a number of partner institutions, and examines the results in aggregate. The 2015 ASR data set included almost 7,000 students across 17 institutions.

We look to this data for the “pulse” of student focus and interest during the recruitment process,

and we can point to three factors here that help us understand how to best message for this

segment.

Factor 1: The campus guest experience is a crucial differentiator in a prospective student’s choice to enroll at your institution.

Top four factors rated most important in the final college decision (Scale from 1 to 7, with 1 being not at all important and 7 being very important)

Overall impression of the college

Faculty interest in the education of individual students

Faculty will be interested in my educational needs

Friendliness of the college community

FACTORS IN ENROLLMENT A DECISION

6.42

6.38

6.36

6.35

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Think about the comprehensive campus guest experience. What factors are involved?

Greeting, faculty, facilities, dining options, friendliness, curb appeal: the list is almost endless.

What if your institution could intentionally plan out an integrated experience for each guest,

tailoring each visit to what was most important to every individual visitor?

Intentional planning is student-centric, and focuses on what matters most. We know from

ASR that faculty plays a big role in students’ decisions to enroll, with two of the top four

factors pointing directly to faculty investment in their students’ education and learning

needs. Overall impressions and friendliness rank at the top as well. And how do students

crystallize their evaluation of whether an institution ticks the boxes on these factors?

By visiting campus. In fact, nearly all matriculants in our research had visited the campus

in which they enrolled, and judged those particular campus visits as particularly in-depth,

including the opportunity to meet with faculty members, individual admissions staff, and

students beyond their tour guide.

Implications: The campus guest experience can be one of the most influential points in

a student’s pre-enrollment experience. Every opportunity should be taken to carefully craft

a campus visit experience that inspires fit and commitment in students. With a clear and

flexible structure around the composition of a campus visit, your admissions team is more

empowered to individualize each guest experience in a way that will most impact the value

they are seeking at your institution.

Your campus guest experience requires strategic, intentional planning in all respects, including:

» Advertising and scheduling: How easy is it for prospects to schedule a tour? Can they select individual times quickly and simply from your website, and do they receive an automated or almost immediate response?

» Touring the facilities: Do you start your tour in a campus location that is just convenient for your tour guides, or in the spot that is most likely to generate excitement and engagement in your prospects? What are the “wow” locations on your campus and how does your tour highlight them?

p.6

» Meeting with faculty in a student’s area of interest: Are faculty an integral part of your campus guest experience? Are they available to prospects, and informed about their department’s graduation and career outcomes?

Visiting campus is a strong initial sign of a willingness on the part of the student and his

or her family to invest in your institution, so the campus guest experience is a significant

opportunity to prove value. This requires the right team, structure, and resources to create

maximum impact.

p.7

Factor 2: 57% of students said that career placement was the number one factor they considered when evaluating an institution’s academic reputation.

Implications: Outcomes matter! Recruitment

efforts need to communicate the strongest

benefits of your institution to your prospects:

the outcomes of your alumni. Beyond a list

of available classes and the names of the

professors, students need to know what your

graduates are doing in the world. Overarching

outcomes can be supported by things like

individual student stories of success and how

that translates to the new student’s potential

experience. And of course, reuse and repackage

as much as possible—one outcome story and

a couple important related statistics can have

legs across multiple platforms over time.

For example, there is great power in a list of the

medical schools to which your graduates have

been admitted over the last 10 years; such a list

provides a number of implicit endorsements of

the quality of your alumni and your program.

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Factor 3: Mom has always been, and continues to be, the top influencer in a student’s college choice.Sorry, dads, siblings, and grandparents—in this category, mom always wins. With the

value proposition playing such a critical role in the choice of an independent college or

university, engaging directly with parents—and speaking directly to mothers as a part of

that engagement—can increase credibility and commitment on the part of those who will

ultimately be supporting their child through their enrollment at your institution.

Implications: By increasing the quantity, quality, and scope of engagement with parents

and guardians, a student is more likely to enroll and persist. If the only mail parents receive

is the bill, consider an expanded communication flow that connects parents to news about

their child’s potential department or school within the institution, athletic news, alumni

outcomes, and engagement opportunities through your recruiting efforts.

Questions for Reflection

1. Does everything in your campus visit experience focus on helping prospects think, “I feel like I belong here”?

2. Do you regularly collect, package, and share alumni outcomes with prospects, faculty, and admissions staff?

3. How are you engaging parents to maximize their leverage on student decisions?

Reference: Data sourced from Credo Admitted Student Research results

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Data-driven enrollment tools are designed to help your team strategize efforts and reach enrollment goals through quantifiable research. Using predictive modeling and admitted student research to inform and focus your efforts allows your team to work at maximum efficiency.

Two tools we utilize with institutions at Credo are PowerPREDICT® and Admitted

Student Research (ASR). Here’s a quick overview of these valuable platforms:

PowerPREDICT®

Narrowing the prospective students in your inquiry pool helps you decide

who to focus your efforts on for maximum return. Using historical data

to highlight which students are most likely to enroll at your institution

allows your team to leverage information to increase effectiveness

and efficiency by prioritizing their efforts.

Predictive modeling is especially helpful for colleges who

are working through a high number of inquiries with a small

enrollment team or budget. Aligning communication efforts

ensures funds are being spent effectively and time is being

spent where there’s the greatest possibility of success.

Inquiry pools can be ranked on specific known factors like

communication flow or territories to help your team

manage their tasks.

What tools can help us best find the right freshmen?

IF YOU ARE ANENROLLMENT LEADERlooking for a way to quantify your leads, be able to know which students are more likely to attend your institution, and which ones can be influenced in a positive way, then I would absolutely say ‘yes’ to PowerPREDICT® by Credo.

BRENT BURKS Director of Admissions andRecruitingUniversity of Mary Hardin-Baylor

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Admitted Student Research (ASR)Can you imagine having an insider look at what students were thinking as they made their

decisions selecting an institution—especially yours? This type of insight can become a reality

with Credo’s Admitted Student Research (ASR). It allows you to collect data each spring/

summer to gain specific insights on the enrollment journey students went through.

ASR delivers comprehensive data, including an intricate view of applicant behavior, when

they make their decisions, and why they ultimately chose their final college or university

destination. Along with this data, you’ll also be able to view data points around trends,

benchmarking capabilities, and comparisons with institutions similar to yours.

Having this type of research on hand offers a significant edge when it comes to strategizing

enrollment efforts. You can begin to understand what your potential students need and use

this information to tailor your enrollment tactics.

p.11

We see a lot of campuses do a decent job of getting data, but many of them are unsure how to gain meaningful insights from it. Instead of really asking themselves what they can do with the data to help them achieve their enrollment goals, it sits there because the team is overwhelmed or not sure where to start to apply the results.

Don't let the data go to waste. You’ve spent money on the research, but now the real work

begins when you build a strong strategy to make it worthwhile. ASR and PowerPREDICT®

“power users” use these enrollment tools to be strategic while also supporting a healthy

enrollment funnel. By becoming more forward-thinking and applying the data intelligently

you too can become a "power user" and better inform pipelines.

Here are some ways you can use both of these tools to their maximum potential and

optimize your recruitment efforts.

Use Admitted Student Research to Make Genuine Connections With StudentsIf you consider the admissions funnel as part of the regular rotation, admitted student

research is at the bottom of the funnel, making it valuable in learning what your students want.

When students are accepted at multiple schools, where do they go and why? When you use ASR,

you can begin to answer those kinds of questions. Let's look at some real-life applications.

How can you use those tools for maximum effectiveness?

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Example #1: Use ASR to Make Productive Campus Guest ExperiencesScenario: A campus event is coming up and enrollment staff wants to prepare for student questions.

What to do: A “Power User” looks at their Admitted Student Research and asks, “What’s

most important to the student when making a decision?” The research says students are

asking questions like: “Can I get a job? Can I get into graduate school? Who’s teaching me?

Would they be a good mentor?”

How to apply this: A Power User would use this information to influence their enrollment

strategy. When students visit their campus, they’d make sure to create a productive

experience where students can make contact with faculty who can answer their

questions. In turn, the ASR information can be used to motivate the faculty beforehand by

demonstrating the importance of answering these questions and making personal contact

with students. They’ll also look for ways to create opportunities in the campus guest

experience to allow these interactions to happen.

Example #2: Use ASR to Create Meaningful Faculty-Student EngagementScenario: A campus wants to attract students through interesting website faculty profiles.

What to do: Make sure the faculty profiles on your website inform the student about who

their mentors will be. Showcasing more than just their degrees and a quick bio can go a long

way as students are comparing websites of their potential schools.

How to apply this: Apply what was learned from ASR as you guide faculty conversations

with prospective students. Be proactive and answer the questions you know they want

answers to (because of the research):

1. Why I love teaching here—shows passion for students and mission.

2. Let me tell you about 3-4 of my favorite students and what they’re doing now— demonstrates how they are a mentor, showcases student outcomes—helpful for parents and students both—shows the difference between simply acquiring knowledge, and actually being mentored and also highlights alumni outcomes.

3. Let me tell you what’s distinctive about our program—showcase the differentiators from other schools—faculty can show their primary audience (17-18 year olds and their parents) what to expect and speak in the language they’ll understand.

p.13

Example #3: Use ASR to Refine Your Main Messaging StrategyScenario: A campus wants to refine their main message to effectively reach students.

Note: One campus we've worked with in the past, decided their main message was about

“high impact learning practice” (internships, study abroad programs, etc.).

What to do: Study data to confirm that your messaging is the right one. After studying data

from ASR, the campus learned that current students recognized that the school offered

these things—but admitted students were saying it wasn’t that important to them.

How to apply this: Check yourselves on messages to make sure that what you put together on

your board meetings stands up to the scrutiny of the real research—is it really working and is it

the most important driver of your students? What’s the dominant buying motive of the students?

Final Thought: Use a Higher Education Consulting Firm to Discover Data-Driven OpportunitiesSometimes the hardest part is getting started. Using a higher education consulting firm like

Credo, allows you to easily discover opportunities to optimize your enrollment strategy, so

you can get to working on what you do best—engaging students.

When we [Credo] come to your campus to work with your top leaders, we also present our

research to your faculty forum. We believe faculty should be seen as knowledge leaders,

so encouraging them to take part in discussions of your campus data insights allows them

to understand changes to enrollment procedures. We want faculty to understand why we

are making changes to the content of campus visits, so they are bought in and excited to

participate in the new process.

Use PowerPREDICT® to Target Students SmartlyIsn't it more fun to speak to students that are already passionate about your school? Do you

ever wish that you could spend more time speaking to those students and less time to those

who aren't as good of a fit?

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POwERPREDICT® ENAbLEs OUR RECRUITERsTO ORgANIzE ThEIR TERRITORIEs when we unveil a tele-counseling campaign. We are able to identify a group that is more likely to enroll, we understand what their needs are, and we know they can really be influenced.

BRENT BURKS Director of Admissions andRecruitingUniversity of Mary Hardin-Baylor

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Spend less time chasing after weak prospects and more time with students who are already

interested. Predictive modeling does all of the work for you so that you can.

PowerPREDICT® shows you that not all prospective students are created equal. In

fact, we've learned that typically 80% of enrolled students come from the top 40%

of the enrollment pool. This means that you gain better results when you focus your

communication outreach efforts on top students. So, how do you do that?

Let's look at some real-life examples of putting PowerPREDICT's predictive modeling data

into action:

Example #1: Use PowerPREDICT® to Increase Prospecting ProductivityScenario: A campus has an aggressive prospective student calling pool and is overwhelmed

by the return on their time when compared to the call volume.

What they did: After the school year ended they built a predictive model and implemented a

strategy where they would reach out to best-fit students first. After a few hours of calling, several

of the student callers ran into their supervisor’s office with excitement. They said: “Students

are so much more interested this year! Maybe it’s because our brand is getting out there?”

Nope, it’s because they were working from a PowerPREDICT® model. Their student callers

were working off of a strategy of calling the prospective students who were MOST likely to

enroll FIRST, rather than just saying “Let’s call everyone starting with a Z today.”

How to apply this: Create a predictive model that targets students that are more likely to

enroll and target them first. You are more likely to have productive conversations when

you’re talking to students who want to hear from you and are a good fit for your school.

Shift your energy there. It will pay off.

p.16

Example #2: Use PowerPREDICT® to Prioritize Spending on Students Likely to EnrollScenario: An institution has a list of 20,000 high school seniors they’re communicating with

and want to send an information packet to them.

What they did: The institution decided to print the information packet and mail it to all

20,000 students, which meant huge costs for them. What they should have done is worked

with an 80/40 model (mentioned above) to prioritize the mailings.

How to apply this: Why send an information packet to every student when you can focus

first on those first 40% who are most likely to enroll? The point is not necessarily to save

money—although that is obviously a plus—but to spend your budget on those who are

MORE likely to enroll in order to see an increase yield in admissions.

Final Thought: Use PowerPREDICT® to Build Credibility and Reach Your Enrollment GoalsWe know that "it takes a campus to recruit a student" so the last thing you want to do is

to make decisions in silos. Instead, get buy in from other departments and motivate your

faculty by using predictive modeling data to solve their own problems.

Involve Other Departments

Using data will help direct the efforts behind fundraising and recruiting. Sharing this data can

help the enrollment team get the help of those around them, and be better supported when

they need to implement their enrollment strategies.

Involve Your Faculty

Present data to your faculty so that they can understand why the changes you're making in

your enrollment process will be more effective. From there, make sure your faculty knows that

they are a part of your efforts and that you want their input to develop a strategy together.

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This accomplishes two things:

1. You develop a comprehensive enrollment strategy

2. Your faculty is bought in and understands the value of the data to enrollment efforts

Accomplishing these things builds internal credibility and shows that you're being

thoughtful in your enrollment efforts. Creating this type of camaraderie helps you work

toward building a stronger institution with higher enrollment numbers.

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The Credo Difference

You may have read through this information and thought about the impact these tactics would make at your campus, but then wondered where to begin. Partnering with Credo supplies you with the necessary support to make substantial improvements to your enrollment strategies that will help you achieve the goals you’re striving for.

Whether your institution needs a refined communication plan based on a specific segment

(such as traditional freshmen) or an advanced enrollment strategy supported by strong data,

we can help. We’ll show you how best to move forward with your enrollment goals in the

most effective, efficient way possible.

CredoHigherEd.com

info@CredoHigherEd.com

@CredoHigherEd

Facebook.com/CredoHigherEd

CredoHigherEd

336-585-1044

940 Golf House Road West #200, Whitsett, NC 27377