Charlene Jaeger, Vice President for Student Affairs

1
Charlene Jaeger,Vice President for Student
Affairs Mary Gresch,Associate Vice
President,Strategic Communicationsand
Marketing October 12, 2004
2
Agenda

• Fundamentals for enrollment success
• Washington State University
• Steady progress
• Marketing and recruitment
• Qualifying and grading
• Predictive modeling
• Financial aid strategies
• Next steps

3
Fundamentals for Enrollment Success

• A long-range strategic enrollment plan with
  clearand realistic enrollment goals that are
  alignedwith fiscal, demographic and competition
  realities
• Long-term commitment to the enrollment plan,its
  goals, and its fiscal support plan
• Data-driven enrollment management best practice
  strategies for brand marketing,
  recruitment,financial aid, admission and
  retention
• High-quality execution of the activities
  thatsupport these best practice strategies

4
Enrollment Best Practices Include

• Use of analytical techniques to focus limited
  personalized recruitment resources on prospective
  students who are most likely to be responsiveto
  recruitment contacts and messages
• Use of analytical techniques to determine
  theright amounts of merit and need-based
  financialaid for each prospective student target
  population
• MOST IMPORTANT FOR TODAYCoordinated,
  personalized recruitment and financialaid
  efforts that involve admissions, financial aid,
  scholarship services, and academic units

5
Best Practices Bottom Line

• We have reached a position in the marketplaceand
  within our own planning where we canshape our
  destiny. THANK YOU!
• Our resources human and fiscal -- must
  befocused on the students we want and whomwe
  have the best chance at enrolling
• Faculty and staff have a critical role in
  thisyour participation is an essential part of
  a processthat focuses on personal contact with
  the rightstudents at the right time.

6
Benchmarking Goals
1. Undergraduate Enrollment

• Controlled growth if funded
• 200 to 300 FTE a yearin Pullman/Spokanewith
  increasing quality
• 50 to 100 FTE a yearin Vancouver
• 25 to 40 FTE in Tri-Cities,primarily in upper
  divisionand graduate

7
Benchmarking Goals
2. Student Quality (2)

• Improve the quality of the freshmen class using
  an index that combines adjusted high school GPA
  with SAT/ACT score so average test scores reach
  1100 within three years and eventually equalor
  exceed peer average.
• Identify a measure of student progress and meet
  or exceed the peer average.

8
Benchmarking Goals
3. Diversity Student

• Reflect states diversityin Washington high
  school graduates, and maintain 75th percentile
  rank among peers for student diversity relative
  to state population.

9
WSU is Making Steady ProgressFreshmen Entering
GPA
GPA 3.6 or higher 38.2 GPA less than 2.80
3.2
GPA 3.6 or higher 32.5 GPA less than 2.80
10.4
10
WSU is Making Steady ProgressFreshmen Average SAT
11
WSU is Making Steady ProgressNew Students of
Color
12
Fall 2003 to Fall 2004Resident Freshmen
High-Ability Students
13
Regents Scholars ProgramFall 2004 Cohort Profile

• 214 Regents Scholars (Fall 2003 174)
• 8.4 Students of Color (Fall 2003 7.2)
• Avg. GPA 3.93, Avg. SAT 1173 (Fall 2003 3.92
  1154)

14
Class of 2005 Admission Strategies

• Through enhanced marketing and recruitingefforts
  resulting in an enhanced applicant pool,WSU is
  now in position to raise admissionsstandards for
  incoming freshmen.
• This will not only enhance the new
  freshmanacademic profile, but also raise
  overallacademic reputation of WSU.
• In order to increase the control over the
  sizeand shape of the freshman class, admissions
  procedures now support the following
• Rolling admissions
• Deferred decisions
• Rolling denials

15
Enrollment Research and Planning

• Group develops recommendations and policiesfor
  Executive Council to review and forwardfor
  University discussion and process
• Current issues under examination
• Long-term enrollment planning
• Admission standards and policies
• Graduate/undergraduate student mix
• Recruitment strategies to increase diversityand
  focus on high-performing students

16
Market TestFocus Groups, April 2004

• Focus groups with high school students in
  westernand eastern Washington
• Brand promise World-class quality with
  challenging hands-on involvement
• Increasing in believability still very appealing
  and compelling to high-performing high school
  students
• Campus visit remains single most important
  factor faculty contact cited repeatedly as
  decision-pointof visit and/or critical factor in
  decision process
• Admission practices must coincide with improving
  market position

17
Marketing and RecruitmentCampaign Evolution

• Major media placements, television,
  advertising,and extensive public relations work
  through the Regents Scholars Program and other
  programshave improved WSUs reputation in the
  pastthree years.
• Next step focus on the refinement of
  ourstrategies to ensure that we are focusingon
  those students who raise our academicprofile and
  can be successful at WSU.

18
New Marketing and Recruitment Strategies

• SAT minimum requirement of 1200 attachedto
  University Achievement Award and Cougar Academic
  Award
• January 31 priority application deadlinefor
  freshmen
• Regents Scholars Preview, Oct. 11
• Expanded name buy to build inquiry pool

19
New Strategies

• Reconfiguration of recruitment communicationplan
  based on predictive modeling and qualifyingand
  grading future-term prospects, inquiries,and
  this years applicants
• Improved visitation programs focusingon
  high-performing studentsTHIS SPRING
  visitations by academic areafocused on
  converting high-achievingapplicants to
  confirmations

20
Qualifying and Grading

• WSU is working withNoel-Levitz to coordinate
  personalized recruitment resources on prospective
  students most likely tobe responsive to WSU
  recruitment contactsand messages
• Qualifying
• Grading

21
Qualifying and Grading

• Personal contacts from academic units will target
  admitted students who have been qualified as
• Probably enrolling at WSU but considering another
  institution
• Will enroll at WSU
• Undecided (if possible)

22
Experience has Shown thatAdmitted Students Who
Say They

• Will enroll- do so at 80-85yield rate
• Will probably enroll- do so at 50-60yield rate
• Are undecided- will enroll at 15-30 yield rate

23
How do we know personalizationand customization
are effective?

• Answer through controlled experiments
• An example
• Telecounseled Group Control Group
• Number 7,893 2,725
• Enrollment 3,315 1,035
• Yield 42 38

24
Predictive ModelingA Short Definition

• Statistical analysis of past behavior tosimulate
  future results. For prospectivestudents, the
  likelihood that a studentwill enroll is
  determined by the degreeto which the student
  shares thecharacteristics and behaviors of
  studentswho have enrolled in the past.

25
Predictive Modeling
In addition to qualifying and grading,we will
use predictive modeling

• To focus student early search contacts on the
  targeted students who are most likely to be
  responsive to early search contacts.
• To focus personal contacts on the
  targetedstudents who make inquiries and who are
  most likely to be responsive to follow-up
  contacts.
• To prioritize high school visits, college
  fairs,and locations of recruitment events.

26
Predictive Modeling Sample Results
Model Score Range Inquiries Enrolled Yield
lt .3 13,502 287 2.1 .3 - .4 21,341 509 2.4 .4 -
.5 19,987 541 2.7 .5 - .6 13,739 588 4.3 .6 -
.7 9,595 695 7.2 .7 - .8 7,012 773 11.0 .8 -
.9 4,632 936 20.2 .9 1.0 3,900 1,558 39.9 Total
93,708 5,887 6.3

• 27 of the inquiries produced 67 of the enrolled
  students
• Impact of personalized recruitment on the
  projected high yield students is much more than
  the impact on the low yield students

27
Key Financial Aid Strategies

• Utilize a historical data-driven
  analyticalapproach, determine the right
  amountsof merit and need-based financial aid
  foreach prospective student target population.
• Coordinate central and decentralizedfinancial
  aid funds to award theseright amounts to
  targeted students
• Provide these financial aid awardsin a timely
  manner so as to have optimaleffect on
  prospective student college choice.

28
Ability to Pay

• Need analysis formulas define what thedesigners
  feel ability to pay should be,what a family is
  expected to pay givena certain level of
  sacrifice.
• The family may be willing and ableto make a
  greater or lesser sacrificethat what is expected.

29
Willingness to Pay

• Willingness to pay varies from studentto student
  and is influenced by a varietyof factors.
• The willingness of a group of studentsto pay for
  a particular college can bemeasured by the
  enrollment (yield) rate.

30
The Relationship BetweenAbility and Willingness
to Pay
Ability to Pay
High
Low
High
2
1
High, Low
High, High
Willingness to Pay
Low, Low
Low, High
Low
3
4
31
Coordination of Financial Aid Funds

• Noel-Levitz recommendationShare optimum
  institutional gift levels withcolleges and
  departments in order to optimizethe utilization
  of centralized and decentralized scholarship
  dollars
• Pilot with College of Sciences and Collegeof
  Engineering and Architecture for classof 2005
  other colleges, class of 2006

32
Class of 2005 Financial Aid Strategies

• Already publicizing that students with 3.6
  GPA,and 1200 SAT or 26 ACT eligible for
  University Achievement Award (UAA) and Cougar
  Academic Award (CAA)
• November, identify certain segments for possible
  additional scholarship assistance to
  leveragedecisions from second tier students
• December, admitted students (first second tier)
  notified on a rolling basis of their eligibility
  for scholarship assistance

33
Class of 2005 Financial Aid Strategies(continued)

• January and February, coordinate centraland
  decentralized funds to optimize targetedstudent
  enrollment yield
• Early-March, admitted students are
  sentcoordinated financial aid and
  scholarshippackages
• Ensure that award process is as personalizedas
  possible (written and verbal follow-up)

34
Class of 2006 Financial Aid Strategies

• Introduce SAT/PSAT criteria for the
  RegentsScholarship
• Strive for fiscal plan that allows for
  unlimited scholarship offers (net revenue
  driven approach)
• Simplify scholarship application
  processes/procedures
• Consider eliminating scholarship application
• Coordination with departments
• Reconsider scholarships tied to tuition(flat
  dollar amount to realize revenue in out years)

35
In Summary
1

• Use qualifying, grading, and predictivemodeling
  techniques to focus limitedpersonalized
  recruitment resources onprospective students who
  are most likelyto be responsive to recruitment
  contactsand messages.
• Nov 3 Noel-Levitz to train Admissionand
  Marketing Communications staffin qualifying and
  grading

36
In Summary
2

• Use financial aid historical analysesto
  determine the right amountsof merit and
  need-based financialaid for each prospective
  studenttarget population
• Nov. 1-2 Noel-Levitz meets with Scholarship
  Services, Academic Areasto introduce models for
  coordinated distribution of scholarship dollars.

37
Changing the UndergraduateStudent Profile
Thank You!

• We look forward to working with youto recruit a
  diverse and high-achievingstudent body to
  Washington State University.

38
Charlene Jaeger,Vice President for Student
Affairs Mary Gresch,Associate Vice
President,Strategic Communicationsand
Marketing October 12, 2004