If You Admit Them, Will They Come?

For Colleges and Universities, the Answer Depends on Asking the Right Questions of the Right Students at the Right Time, Says Maguire Associates

Concord, MA – March 3, 2010 – For colleges and universities, one of the differences between meeting enrollment goals or admitting a freshman class that doesn’t measure up to expectations is asking the right questions of the right students at the right time, according to Maguire Associates, a research-based consulting firm for the education industry.

“As colleges invest hundreds of thousands of recruitment dollars toward shaping the next freshman class, they need to listen more carefully—and skillfully—to the students they’ve just admitted,” said Tara Scholder, Senior Vice President of Research Operations, Maguire Associates. “Understanding their motivations through better questioning, and deeper analysis of their responses, is crucial to improving future yields.”            

With last year’s economic downturn remaining a potential factor in enrollment decisions for the next few years, these questions become even more important. Knowing as much as possible about the influence of multiple variables, such as communications, campus visits and admissions events, and interactions with financial aid, can pay substantial dividends now and in the future. 

“Getting to the most meaningful information, however, requires asking the right questions. At its most simple level this means knowing what to ask when you reach out to your admitted students, as each institution is unique.  It can also be extended into a deeper look at the results.  Often, it is not what students say that is most useful, but what ultimately drives their actions that is most instructive,” added Ms. Scholder.

The timing of the research is also important. Reaching out to students as soon as possible after acceptance results in higher response rates and more accurate and complete memories of aspects of their college search process and final decision making.

“Improvements to yield enhancement—changes to processes, introduction of beneficial efforts, and elimination of strategies that don’t provide a strong return on investment—require evidence,” said Kathleen Dawley, President of Maguire Associates. “Meaningful information and data looking at several variables at multiple points in time is an essential foundation for successful decision making.”

Maguire Associates has developed a Yield Enhancement Service specifically designed to help institutions improve the performance and efficiency of their recruitment efforts. This service helps colleges and universities understand the motivations, intentions and characteristics of newly admitted students, providing actionable recommendations for increasing yield. The service, which links the results of new information collected via a survey to existing institutional data, is designed for quick administration and can provide insights colleges and universities can use right away. Millikin University and Emmanuel College are among the institutions that have benefited from the service.

“Each year we want to know whether we are doing all that we can to enroll a successful class; we have seen that past experience is no guarantee of future success,” said Sister Janet Eisner, President, Emmanuel College. “Maguire Associates’ insightful research, analysis and recommendations have helped us to define and meet our yield goals.”

For more information, please contact Dawn Ringel, Warner Communications, at 781-449-8456 or dawn@warnerpr.com. For more information about Maguire Associates’ Yield Enhancement Service, please visit: http://www.maguireassoc.com/resource/innovations_bulletin6.html  or call 978.371.1775.

About Maguire Associates

Maguire Associates is a research-based consulting firm that exclusively serves educational clients – close to 400 of them – from colleges and universities to independent and public schools, consortia and government organizations focused on education. For 25 years, the firm has applied innovations in market research, analysis, and predictive modeling to help clients understand the dynamics of past performance, apply insightful knowledge to sound decision-making, and attain desired outcomes. For more information, visit www.maguireassoc.com.