Last Minute Initiatives During the Final Five Months to Improve Recruitment Outcomes for Fall 2013

John W. Dysart
President
The Dysart Group, Inc.

There are only four months remaining in the recruitment cycle and many colleges and universities are still concerned about their ability to realize their recruitment goals for Fall 2013. Perhaps you are running behind in applications? Maybe the number of applicants you have accepted for admission is less than at this time last year?

Perhaps you have generated fewer enrollment deposits compared to the same time last year. It is not too late. There are still some initiatives that can be undertaken to improve outcomes:

Consider a late search
If your customer base seems insufficient to meet your enrollment goals, you may want to consider another search outreach via regular mail or electronic communication to prospective student names that can be purchased from The College Board, American College testing or National Research Center for College and University Admissions. While it is true that most students have made their decisions on which college to attend or at least to which institutions to send applications, there are still undecided students even this late in the cycle. Some students start the college selection process late. Some may have decided upon a school, but recently learned that they were not accepted for admission. Even students accepted for admission may have recently discovered that their financial aid packages are insufficient to make attendance realistic. There is still time to identify new inquiries.

Initiate late outreach to students in your inquiry database who have not applied for admission
The majority of students who have taken action to express an interest in a particular college or university never actually apply for admission. You may have as many as 90% of prospective students in your database who have not yet applied for admission. It is not too late to initiate contact with these students to encourage them to apply. Telephone calls tend to be the most effective mechanism, but you may also wish to consider sending email messages or text messages to encourage students to apply for admission. Late applicants for admission tend to enroll at relatively high rates.

Proactively encourage all of your admission applicants to apply for financial aid
It is not unusual for colleges and universities to have as many as 50-70% of their admission applicants never actually apply for financial aid at the institution. Given the state of the economy and national concerns with regard to college affordability, outcomes are likely to improve for colleges able to provide financial aid packages to a higher percentage of admission applicants.

Package applicants for financial aid
It is important to send financial aid packages to new students who have applied for financial aid. Sometimes, the timing of the award can be as important as the details of the award. Resist the temptation to accept excuses for delayed packaging such as verification.

Schedule a late Spring visit day
Campus visits are so influential in the college selection process. It may be beneficial to schedule a late visit event before the end of the Spring semester to allow an opportunity for students who may have started the selection process late or may have applied for admission in just the last 30-60 days.

It is not too late to increase the number of newly enrolled students for Fall 2013. If you are concerned about your latest recruitment reports, it make sense to schedule a meeting with key enrollment management staff to discuss a fourth quarter action plan.