We’ve now arrived at the third and final installment covering how the growing number of disruptors within higher education are affecting the industry overall and, particularly, the Entering Class of 2024.
Using feedback from MARKETview’s inaugural Partner Survey Report, this post will focus on Data, Analytics, and Proficiency. Specifically, we’ll zoom in on data accuracy, investment planning, and analytical staffing.
Data, Analytics, and Proficiency: Three Key Findings
Today, colleges must establish a culture of data-driven decision-making and recruit the talent needed to analyze their institution’s trends while also understanding the market context behind it all. Let’s investigate how schools are faring:
Q: How often do you use data to make decisions?
Key Finding 1: The importance of timely, accurate data has never been higher.
The importance of data in recruitment is clearly evident. These days, enrollment leaders need data more than ever to effectively recruit the students they most desire—a fact driven home by 100% of respondents attesting to use data to make decisions often or always.
It should also be noted that MARKETview partners (who comprise this survey) are extremely data-minded and already accustomed to accessing customized insights daily—making the outcomes throughout this section not completely surprising.
Q: Do you plan to invest more, less or the same in data solutions for this upcoming admissions cycle?
Key Finding 2: Only a handful of institutions are trimming their data budgets.
For the upcoming cycle, 19.2% of respondents plan to increase their data spend, 73.9% answer that they will stay the same, and only 1.4% plan on investing less – all of which greatly highlights the understood value of embracing data solutions.
The institutions that will see no change in their data budgets will continue to be expected to do more with existing resources, all in the face of growing recruitment challenges impacting higher education.
Q: Do you feel like you have enough roles devoted to data and analytics on your team?
Key Finding 3: Institutions feel largely deficient in internal data and analytics support.
Given the prominence that data and analytics play in enrollment success, it seems natural that over 55% of respondents feel like they have too few roles devoted to this area. Of the remaining institutions, 42.9% believe they have the right number of roles while 1.4% believe they have too many roles.
For added context, institutions with an enrollment of less than 5,000 generally feel like they have the right amount of data and analytics roles (54.3%) compared to schools with 5,000 or more students (20.8%).
We hope you found this three-part series covering the current challenges impacting higher education helpful and enlightening in answering the question, “Is the enrollment profession at a crossroads?”
If you’d like to see more, we encourage you to review the full MARKETview Partner Survey Report. And please be on the lookout for our new report arriving in fall 2024.
Here’s wishing you all the best in achieving your enrollment and revenue goals!
2023 MARKETview Partner Survey
Access insights from the inaugural MARKETview partner survey. See insights on the effects of the the key disruptors affecting the higher education industry, including updates to the FAFSA, the recent Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action, test-optional policies, and more.
Download the Report