Addressing a Decline in College Enrollment

Business Objective

• Wanting to reverse a two-year trend of declining enrollment, a four-year college focused on better understanding the factors driving enrollment choices among their target audience of high school students and recent graduates who had not immediately enrolled in post-secondary education.

The Challenge

• Understanding the drivers that impact enrollment was essential. Among parents, high school students and recent graduates, the client was unsure which audience should be prioritized since the enrollment decline was universal across all three groups.
• Due to its small footprint, the college was challenged by its small sample size.

Our Approach

• To offset the sample size challenge, the Schmidt team selected sample panels reflective of each of the three targeted groups.
• Intent on fully understanding each target, the Schmidt team developed and executed three separate surveys, custom to each group.
• Results were analyzed both individually and across the three targets. This enabled us to identify common factors that resonated with all target groups, while also noting factors that could help develop an individual approach for each.