The economic downturn has caused more students than ever before to delay their enrollment decisions. Many schools have extended or waived their deposit deadlines to capture a larger cohort, parents are assessing their financial resources and students are toying with the notion of abandoning their “dream” school in lieu of a more affordable one. While admits and their parents weigh their options, many colleges and universities can only begin to speculate how fall enrollment numbers may shake out.
Rather than leave the future to chance, schools are likely to take proactive steps to turn admits into enrollees. Some in the higher education community expect institutions to cultivate a thorough understanding of student behaviors to learn why some students enroll and others do not. Others predict administrators will utilize predictive tools to glean unique insight on student enrollment propensities in the form of online programs to assess admits’ enrollment inclinations (i.e. how many admits are “multiple depositing,” have admits completed the required enrollment forms, etc.) and prevent summer melt. What you do think the enrollment forecast holds for 2010-2011 and how will your institution prepare?