AASCU's 2015 Presidential Symposium on Enrollment Management

Student enrollment is a linchpin of a university’s health. Today, however, ongoing institutional financial pressures, shifting student demographics, increasing competition, and other manifestations of disruptive change in higher education make it imperative that institutions be particularly diligent in managing for success in enrollment. At the same time, continued economic difficulties for families, reduced funding by state governments, and the reduced number of high school graduates in many areas are among the many macro trends that also have a significant impact on enrollment success. Perhaps as never before, the practice of enrollment management in public universities today needs to be active, aggressive, sophisticated and strategic.

To help college leaders better understand some of the practices that are helping successful institutions achieve critical success in enrollment, AASCU held a symposium for university presidents and chancellors. Conved in Minneapolis, Minnesota in September 2015, the symposium was sponsored by Royall & Company, a leading consulting firm in higher education enrollment management, financial aid optimization, and alumni fundraising.  This paper captures insights from the symposium and offers presidential guidance on how to strategically approach enrollment management. The paper is available for download here