Imagine you’re running a marathon. You wouldn’t just show up on race day without any preparation, right? Similarly, gaining control over your school’s candidate pool requires planned, consistent, and sustained effort. It’s about crafting a strategic enrollment management plan. Yet, can a school meet its enrollment targets without one? Absolutely! Some schools rely on what I call the “serendipity enrollment management plan.”
The Serendipity Enrollment Management Plan: They Need Us
Serendipity happens when a combination of a dense population of age-appropriate students, many full-pay customers, brand position compared to other schools, or poor public school options leads to successful enrollment outcomes. There is probably a good educational product too. These schools may not need to advertise as much, adjust their programs to the needs of the customer, pay attention to pricing, renew their marketing materials regularly, or even hold customer-centric events to attract families. Do these schools understand why they are so fortunate to have such a strong enrollment position?
The Reactive Approach: A Costly Gamble
Most schools operate on what I call “reactive enrollment management planning.” They respond to problems as they arise. If there’s a clear concern, they might allocate additional resources for marketing or recruiting initiatives. When it gets really bad, they call someone like me in to help them recruit more full-pay families. I rhetorically ask my clients, “Why did it take 5 years for you to notice that your net tuition revenue was shrinking each year?” They are more than likely failing to recognize the root issues—quality of teachers, curriculum excitement, inadequate customer relationships, and inadequate facilities, usually compared to the public school options.
Take, for instance, a school with a 20% attrition rate. (I know one of these schools.) Every year, this school sets a budget that includes enrolling additional students after the school year starts. Addressing the attrition problem directly through a retention program, which includes data collection, would save valuable resources. Reactive planning, while sometimes necessary, is far more costly in the long run.
Building a Strategic Enrollment Management Plan
Whether you’re currently thriving or struggling in the admissions process, now is the time to develop a strategic enrollment management plan. Here are some steps to get you started:
- Define Your Objectives: What is the demographic make-up you seek? Your enrollment management objectives should align with the optimal student body you envision. For instance, you might need specific types of students in different divisions—athletes in the upper school, charismatic children in the lower school, or affluent families to support your capital campaign.
- Identify and Attract Your Target Students: Establish marketing strategies that appeal to your desired student body. Schools often bristle at the idea of focusing on full-pay families. However, most of a school’s revenue is generated from this group. If you were trying to build a strong basketball team, would you just focus on bodies or would you focus on students who possess the skills you’re seeking? If you need revenue, you need to focus on full-pay families.
- Involve the Entire School: Every aspect of school life affects enrollment, from the appearance of the campus to conversations with the business office to the quality of the educational program. Everyone must contribute to the strategic plan. If the head of school isn’t leading this charge, doesn’t understand how to lead it, or doesn’t listen to the voice of the admission people, it’s probably not going to work.
- Evaluate Your Plan: Set up a system to measure the effectiveness of your enrollment management objectives. Regular evaluations will help you make necessary adjustments.
- Focus on Retention: Treat each year’s enrollment as starting from zero. A strong retention plan is essential and should involve every department, not just the admission office. It actually annoys me when the admission office is responsible for monitoring retention. The accountability should lie with the people responsible for the quality of the program. If the admission office oversees the quality of the program, then it makes sense.
A strategic enrollment management plan is your key to success. It helps you allocate resources more effectively, orchestrate your student body better, improve brand recognition, and respond to marketing conditions proactively. Best of all, it puts you in better control of your candidate pool, turning potential crises into opportunities for growth.
So, don’t wait for enrollment issues to force your hand. Embrace a strategic approach, involve your entire team, and take control of your school’s future.
