College Enrollment: Misconceptions, Messages and Realities

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College EnrollmentMisconceptions, Messages and
Realities

• Meeting with the Contingency Planning Committee
• June 2, 2003

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Making Sense of it All

• Mary Lelik, Director of Institutional Research
• Mary Nucciarone, Director of Financial Aid
• Mary Pat Nolan, Director of Admission

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Enrollment Trends
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Enrollment Trends
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Enrollment Trends
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Womens Share of College Enrollment
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Womens Colleges First-Year Enrollment
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Enrollment Trends

• Between 1997 and 2001, womens college
  enrollments grew 4.7
• Enrollment of women at all private institutions
  grew 8.8 over the same period (men 1.3 growth)

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Fall Semester Enrollment at Saint Marys

• 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
• First-Year Students 405 424 438 436 376
• Other First-Year 53 35 34
• Holy Cross Linkage 20 30 21 19
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• Sophomores 331 363 419 413 416
• Juniors 297 317 309 363 371
• Seniors 344 317 293 312 346
• Non-Degree 46 66 32 42 16
• TOTAL 1443 1517 1565 1620 1571

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Top Competitors in Cross-Admissions

• Michigan State
• IU Bloomington
• Purdue
• Loyola
• Xavier
• Miami of Ohio

• Dayton
• Notre Dame
• Michigan
• Boston College
• Butler University

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Positive Images

• Personal attention
• Quality of on-campus housing
• Academic achievement
• Academic reputation
• Extra-curricular opportunities

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Negative Images

• Availability of majors
• Cost of attendance
• Variety of courses
• Quality of social life

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Enrolling Students Find Us

• Challenging
• Comfortable
• Prestigious
• Selective
• Fun

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Non-Enrolling Admits Find Us

• Not well-known
• Isolated
• Back-up school
• Average

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Impact of Women-Only Colleges

• No difference with regard to growth in critical
  thinking abilities and problem-solving skills
• Positive impact on social and intellectual
  self-confidence and social activism

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Financial Aid Trends and Strategies
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Distribution of Full-time Undergraduates at
Private Four-Year Institutions by Tuition and
Fees 2002 2003Taken From The College Board
Trends in Pricing
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Personal Family Income National Trend
DataTaken From The College Board Trends in
Student Aid
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Saint Marys College Income Summary

• 2002 Average parent income as reported on the
  Admitted Student Questionnaire of all admitted
  students
• 93,333 for enrolling students
• 96,190 for non-enrolling students
• 2002 average income of enrolled Need-Based
  Student Aid Recipients was 74,000.
• 2002 average family receiving need-based aid
  would spend over 43 of their income to cover the
  cost of Saint Marys for one year.

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General Challenges Related to Financing and
Enrollment

• Federal aid flat funding
• Decreasing state aid for Indiana students
• State merit aid programs in various markets (FL,
  GA, MI)
• Upper income families migrating to public
  institutions
• Market competition and consumer mentality of
  getting the best deal. The willingness versus
  ability to pay.
• Unemployment and underemployment
• Loss of investments

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Financial Factors Influencing Enrollment at Saint
Marys

• Annual evaluation of the effect of financial aid
  on admitted students revealed the following
• The probability of an admitted student
  enrolling in 2002 decreased by 1 as need
  increased by 1,000 as compared to 0.5 in 2001.
• An additional 1,000 in grant aid increased
  the probability of a student enrolling by almost
  8 for the admitted students in 2002 as compared
  to 4.3 in 2001.

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Student Academic Demographic Characteristics
that Influence Enrollment at Saint Marys

• For every 10th of a point increase in high school
  grade point average, a student was 1 less likely
  to enroll.
• For every 10-point increase in total SAT score,
  the likelihood of enrollment dropped slightly, by
  0.5.
• Students from Ohio were 10 less likely to enroll
  when compared to students from other states.
• Residency from other states did not emerge as a
  significant factor in enrollment decisions.

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Sensitivity to Price at Saint Marys

• Students with different characteristics have
  differing degrees of price sensitivity.
• For those who have elastic demand (sensitive to
  price), the probably of enrolling decreases
  significantly when grant aid declines.
• For students who have inelastic demand (not
  responsive to price), lowering grant aid by
  modest amounts has little impact on the
  probability of enrollment.
• In 2002 our admitted students were more sensitive
  to price than they were in 2001.

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Strategies

• Involvement at federal and state level to
  advocate for stable or increased funding.
• Increased request for institutional financial
  assistance for new and continuing students (10.5
  million).
• Continue annual research to test financial aid
  effectiveness and sensitivity to price to
  determine effective strategies.
• Continued use of professional judgment to address
  family concerns related to economy.

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Strategies

• Increased communication to families on education
  as investment throughout recruitment.
• Reorganized financial aid brochure by adding the
  question, Is Saint Marys Affordable? and
  providing statistics and quality factors to
  address affordability issue.
• VMag segment on investment, affordability and
  financial aid.

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Strategies

• Increased collaboration with athletics in the
  following ways
• Provided training to coaches on financial aid and
  how to discuss affordability investment
• Shared recruit lists and regularly discuss issues
  and concerns that arise
• Provided access and training to financial aid
  awards
• Met with recruits during campus visits to discuss
  financing and affordability

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A Response to the Enrollment Challenge
Admission Strategies for 2002-03
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Market Research

• Utilized ASQ competitor analysis and final
  report to develop action-oriented strategies.
• Analyzed admission materials from competing
  institutions to improve our messages and timing
  of our communication system.
• Conducted an analysis of cancellation research to
  realize how and if our competing schools were
  changing so that we might better segment our
  marketing messages.

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Communication System

• Added two new sources for direct mail campaign
  College Bound Selection Services and Phi Theta
  Kappa.
• Introduced the Academic Viewbook to the series of
  senior mailings.
• Introduced VMag for all accepted students.

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Volunteer Groups

• Called accepted students instead of deposited
  students.
• Expanded number of area receptions for accepted
  students
• Greater opportunity for involvement of Alumnae
  VISA, Parents Council and Trustees.
• Assigned a counseling staff member to serve as
  liaison with coaching staff for each sport.

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Travel

• Concentrated more time in primary and secondary
  markets both fall and spring.
• Moved a more experienced counselor to Indiana
  the only state that has four counselors assigned
  to it.
• Divided Ohio into two territories and assigned
  two counselors to state.
• Increased our participation in college fairs and
  activities specifically designed for the
  recruitment of multicultural students.

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On-Campus Programs

• Held Accepted Day earlier in spring
• Expanded program for greater faculty and current
  student participation.
• Worked with Student Affairs to plan and host
  Summer Orientation Days in June for accepted
  students.

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Technological Advancements

• Increased electronic communication with accepted
  students
• Six VMag issues
• Seven chat rooms for accepted students
• Periodic broadcast emails to accepted students
• Developed web page for accepted students.
• Enhanced access for the coaches to relevant
  information about athletic recruits via SCTBanner
  screens.

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Results to DateFirst Year Applicants As of May
30

• Applications are up slightly from last year. We
  saw increases in Indiana, Michigan and Ohio.
• Geographic Distribution
• 43 States
• 19 Countries
• 12 of the first years are multicultural.
• 52 were Alumnae or Student Endorsed.

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Academic Quality of Accepted Students Remains
Stable

• Class Entering 2003 2002 2001 2000
• Anticipated Graduation 2007 2006 2005 2004
• Mean HS GPA 3.68 3.68 3.65 3.61
• SAT Verbal 575 581 569 563
• SAT Math 571 574 565 554
• ACT Composite 25 25 25 25
• As of May 30

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Fall 2003 Application Counts for First Year
Students

• As of May 30 2003 2002 2001 2000
• Applications 1009 990 1007 1063
• Accepted Students 825 814 827 884
• Net Acknowledged 407 376 439 428
• Final Count of
• Applications Received 997 1011 1068
• Size of First Year Class 376 436 438

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