Patrick Sutton
6-5-08

Over the past two years, the enrollment management industry has expanded drastically. Still, the industry is in its infant stages -- there is not a clear definition of what an enrollment management service provider does. Most definitions of the term enrollment management refer to the process as a "soup to nuts" workflow, so by all accounts "enrollment management" addresses all areas of the student lifecycle.

The demand for process and workflow improvement in the student lifecycle is high as well -- many for-profit and not-for-profit schools have begun to place more emphasis on improving the back-office process: the goal is to provide exceptional educational services, in the most efficient manner possible.

While the definition is clear, and the industry-wide demand is clear, the supply of adequate products and services is still fragmented. Some enrollment management companies focus their efforts on retention products and services, other firms focus their efforts on branding campaigns, still other companies focus on enrollment marketing, or simply provide value added services by consulting.

While colleges and universities have begun to look for ways to increase the efficiency of student recruitment, financial aid, retention, graduation and alumni relations, the interactive marketing industry is gradually shifting as well. In an effort to improve process efficiencies across the board, academic institutions are demanding results for their marketing dollars--this means that more schools want to spend marketing dollars on results, rather than just branding.

Marketing Tactic	Risk of College or University	Risk of Marketing Firm / Service Provider
Cost per Click	HIGHEST	LOWEST
Cost per Lead
Phone Verified Lead
Hot Transfer
Cost per Application
Cost per Acquisition
Revenue Share (Partnership)	LOWEST	HIGHEST

From more risk to less risk: the risk of the school declines as the commitment of the service provider increases from selling leads to colleges and universities, towards a revenue share model.

The revenue share is a curious thing: it is simply a payment plan, but it changes the very nature of the product or service that marketing companies provide to colleges and universities. Once a service provider is judged by an increase graduations, retention and starts rather than an increase in clicks or lead forms, the very nature of the relationship changes. The relationship between the service provider becomes a partnership, rather than a business transaction. The service provider is committed to maintaining the highest level of academic standards, and helping the student to have the most positive experience possible during his or her stay in order to avoid attrition.

The companies who can assist in helping schools to maintain academic excellence, find more students, and graduate more students are uniquely positioned to service the enrollment management industry.

Contact us today to find out more about strategic enrollment management partnerships.