The Real-Time Data Quiz: June ’24 Edition

A) In-State 
B) Out-of-State 
C) International 
 
While all three groups closed the gap strongly in the final weeks, it was the Out-of-State population that experienced the least volatility with a yield change of -0.8 percentage points (pp) from the previous year. In-State saw the greatest amount of change at -1.7pp and International filled the middle slot at -1.1pp. 

The decline within the In-State cohort is especially disappointing given that many schools depend on this population as a key audience to meet their goals. 

A) -0.7pp
B) -1.4pp
C) -2.1pp

Traditionally, pre-senior inquiries are a dependable population, given the increased interaction they’ve had with specific institutions, thus developing a stronger affinity. That was not the case in this odd yield cycle, however, as pre-senior inquiries were off -1.4pp from 2023.  

For context, students who first inquired as seniors (normally, a far less dependable population) were only off -1.1pp. Not the best outcome, but quite surprising when compared to long-standing funnel metrics.

A) <$50k  
B) $50k – $100k 
C) $100k – $150k 
D) $150k – $200k 
E) $200k – $250k 
F) $250k+

The early hypothesis was that deposit numbers from students in low-income households would be most adversely affected by the delayed FAFSA, but the opposite happened. While yield rate decreased across all consumer deciles, the $250k+ cohort declined the sharpest at -1.3pp.

Here’s where the other income bands landed:
<$50k: -1.0pp
$50k – $100k: -1.0pp
$100k – $150k: -1.2pp
$150k – $200k: -1.0pp
$200k – $250k: -1.1pp