Questions to ask yourself to help determine your need for enrollment consulting.
General questions
- What has been our track record in meeting new student enrollment goals in the last five years?
- What is the outlook for enrollment growth in our top five market segments?
- Do we have a written strategic enrollment plan which guides our annual, campus-wide recruitment efforts?
- How have we adjusted our tactics and strategies to deal with the challenges of global pandemic?
Practice questions
- How effective is our campus guest experience, both in-person and virtual, at building interest in enrolling?
- How efficiently do students move from level to level in our admission funnel?
- How confident are we in the size of and return from the investments we have made in marketing, travel, direct mail and other recruitment strategies?
- What are our most effective enrollment pipelines?
Program questions
- How well do our academic and co-curricular programs draw and sustain interest from potential students?0
- How well do our program offerings/delivery modalities/outcomes match the wants and needs of the marketplace?
- How well are we capturing our fair share of interest from the market for each of our programs?
- How does each program’s funnel perform?
- Which programs have the potential to grow?
People questions
- How effective is our system of hiring, training, and professional development for admission team members?
- If it takes a campus to recruit a student, how well have we mobilized the rest of the campus to do their part?
- How confident are our leaders in admission and financial aid about their ability to lead us to new student enrollment success in these challenging times?
Place questions
- What kind of first impression does our signage, guest parking, and other arrival branding create for first-time visitors?
- How does our website capture and increase interest, both for potential on-campus and online students?
- What space does our admission team occupy and how does it match with best practice principles for the welcome experience?
Price questions
- How confident are we that our financial aid strategies will help us meet institutional goals for net revenue and enrollment?
- How is our price perceived in the marketplace?
- How does our price compare to our most frequent competitors at all levels of the funnel?
- How effectively do we make the case for why we are worth choosing regardless of our price and aid mix?
So, as you thought through these questions, how did you do? What grade would you assign your confidence in your ability to meet enrollment goals now and into the post-pandemic future based on your answers? If you’re not sure how to answer, or if you aren’t comfortable with the grade implied by your answers, it might be time to get some experienced, outside perspective on your enrollment challenges and opportunities.