This year’s MARKETview Partner Survey Report examines the defining characteristics of the “new era” of enrollment and reveals how campus leaders are adapting to the shifting recruitment landscape.
We’ll be covering the findings from the report in a three-part series, with this edition focusing on the topic of Financial Budgeting and Support. Make sure to read part one of the series, covering Enrollment Planning and Feasibility. And keep an eye out for part three coming next month, discussing Market Disruption and Innovations. You can also download the full partner survey here.
Financial Budgeting and Support: Three Key Findings
As the enrollment landscape undergoes changes in the “new era”, long-standing deficits in budgeting and human resources are being magnified to a deeper extent. The following three key findings illustrate how these challenges impact the financial planning process for institutions in higher ed.
2024 Partner Survey: Adapting to a New Era of Enrollment Management
From new technologies and accessibility concerns to shrinking student pools, FAFSA delays and more, this past cycle was one of the most challenging ever. Learn how senior enrollment leaders across the MARKETview partner base are reassessing traditional enrollment practices to keep pace in changing times.
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Q: Do you plan to invest more, less or the same in data solutions for this upcoming cycle?
Key Finding 1: Enrollment budgets have not changed much this year.
Enrollment teams are facing somewhat of a resource scarcity following a difficult 2024 cycle. This could explain why we see 68.6% of survey respondents keeping their data spending the same last cycle. Data proficiency is not an area where most institutions usually choose to make cuts. We saw a small (5.7%) number of respondents spending less on data while 24.3% are spending more, which demonstrates a high level of confidence in the value of analytics.
Q: Will you be spending more, less or the same in each of these areas this cycle?
Key Finding 2: Spending on Digital Marketing and Pre-Senior Search surged.
Institutions increased their spending on Digital Marketing in 2024, with 49.3% reporting a larger investment. Enrollment teams are capitalizing on communicating through an online market where students spend a significant portion of their time these days.
Senior Search saw 21.7% of respondents decrease their spending, which could be partially related to a 50.7% increase in Pre-Senior Search. Colleges are choosing to invest more in communicating with prospects earlier in the pipeline, as those students become more likely to yield if admitted.
Q: Has staff turnover been a challenge for your team?
Key Finding 3: Many enrollment teams are suffering from turnover.
A large number of institutions (60.7%) are facing turnover issues in their offices, which could be why we also saw 50.7% of respondents reporting open enrollment positions as well. Throughout the staffing– focused data in the survey, there was an overall theme of shortages throughout the market, and the high rates of turnover surely compounded this issue.
We hope you find these key insights from part two of the MARKETview Partner Survey Report helpful in navigating the “new era” of student enrollment. Part three will be arriving in the weeks ahead, where we’ll continue to examine the changing higher ed world in even greater depth.
If you would like to see the complete range of data insights from our 2024 Partner Survey, you can download the full report here. To learn more about how MARKETview’s proprietary data set can help your institution effectively meet goals in the “new era,” sign up for a live demo here.