Enrollment Management: An Introduction to Concepts and Structures.

In the increasingly complex world of managing enrollments, success or failure hinges on building a solid foundation of concepts, structures, and strategies. This first of a two-part series reviews the core concepts and structural considerations that underlie successful enrollment management organizations. Introduction: Historical Forces, Current Challenges, Future Realities Strategic enrollment management. This three-word phrase is increasingly used throughout higher education. However, the more it is used, the more apparent is the range of interpretations surrounding this deceptively simple concept. The purpose of this article is to summarize the core concepts and organizational principles that form the infrastructure of successful enrollment management organizations. Enrollment management as we know it today was born in the anticipation and impact of a demographic downturn. From the 1950s through the 1970s, colleges and universities enjoyed a steady stream of students fueled by a succession of societal and demographic changes. From the G.I. Bill in the 1950s, to the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s, to the last vestiges of the baby boom generation in the 1970s, higher education saw an expansion of interest, access, and sheer numbers that provided a steady stream of students. Even in those boom times, and indeed throughout the history of higher education, colleges and universities have been concerned not only with enrollment itself, but also with the types of students they are able to attract. Thus, efforts to more effectively recruit targeted groups of students through enhanced market segmentation, improved recruitment services, and merit aid were employed well before the modern enrollment management era (Henderson 2001). By the early 1970s, however, astute observers of the higher education landscape could see difficulties looming in the future as they noted the projected drop in high school graduates. This decrease in the number of students graduating from U.S. high schools began as the last members of the baby boom generation finished high school in the early 1980s. From that point through the mid-1190s, the number of high school graduates was in free-fall, dropping nationally by 700,000 students, or over 20 percent, by 1995 (National Center for Educational Statistics). In this environment, colleges and universities began to employ more comprehensive approaches to enrollment, which moved beyond marketing, recruitment, and financial aid to include sophisticated financial aid strategies, institutional research, and retention efforts. This shift varied among institutions and regions of the country. For many colleges and universities, the decrease in high school graduates was balanced through the 1980s by increases in the number of nontraditional students they enrolled, especially adult degree completers and students of color. Enrollment of these new groups allowed many institutions, especially public schools in urban locations, to maintain or even increase their enrollments. Institutions in the South and West were aided by population shifts to those regions. By the early 1990s, however, the sheer weight of the demographic downturn caught up with virtually every segment of higher education. While enrollment management gained momentum initially in response to demographics, it has been nurtured in an environment of increased accountability and, in a growing number of cases, constrained resources. Criticism of the rapid rise in college tuition costs over the past two decades is especially applicable to the enrollment management enterprise. Many institutions have fallen into the trap of throwing money at their enrollment problems, with too little planning and lack of accountability to achieving the desired outcomes. At the same time, economic forces have become increasingly challenging, and are limiting the resources available to fund enrollment efforts on many campuses, especially in the public sector. …