The Commons

There is a plethora of news stories emerging right now about colleges – particularly elite schools – and the trouble they’re having making their fall 2009 class. The focus is typically on yield — the percentage of admitted students who enroll at an institution. Why yield? Because this metric has long been considered the bellwether statistic that defines a college’s brand power and popularity. It’s the measure of first-choiceness. It’s the win rate. It’s bragging rights for colleges, students, and parents. It’s a measure of health to a bond-rater or financier. And it has been dropping steadily across the country as students apply to more colleges on average each year. After all, a student can only attend one college at a time, and the percentage of freshmen who apply to six or more colleges has gone from 18 percent to 28 percent in the last decade. So, it’s no wonder the selective college world, already feeling a bit devalued lately because of overall slumping yield rates, is now in a tizzy because home finances have collided with college dreams and aspirations.

So, what to do? The answer is to effectuate a marketing mind-set around return on investment, do the best research and planning you’ve ever done, and become a champion on your campus.

Read my full point of view article that details nine tips on how to become an enrollment management champion.

- Tom Abrahamson, Managing Director & Principal

Lipman Hearne Point of View on Yield –

Tags: admissions, economic downturn, enrollment management, higher education, nonprofit marketing, trends, yield