One of the most critical functions on campus is enrollment management. As budgets become tighter and institutions rely more heavily on tuition, the competition to "make the class" intensifies. How can institutional research help inform strategic planning in such a market? This paper will discuss the way that institutional researchers can…

Marketing is an essential component of an effective enrollment management plan. The broad mission of a comprehensive community college requires multiple, targeted communications campaigns. Institutional research can contribute to marketing success at all phases of decision making.

Every college and university, whether public or private; two-year, four-year, or graduate; traditional or online, depends on recruiting and enrolling new students and strives to have as many of those students as possible complete their educational programs. Knowing how effectively an institution is managing the various stages of enrollment is…

Producing analyses that are accurate, timely, and simple is a constant challenge for institutional researchers. The stakes are high: when the analysis is incomplete, arrives too late, does not adequately address the question, or is simply too much to comprehend, decision makers fall back on anecdotal thinking or gut-level reactions that can lead…

This chapter demonstrates how institutional researchers at institutions of higher education can use economic theory for enrollment management. (Contains 4 figures.)

The authors provide an overview of data mining, giving special attention to the relationship between data mining and statistics to unravel some misunderstandings about the two techniques. (Contains 1 figure.)

As a tour de force, data mining is likely to gain wider use in the next few years. To facilitate this transition, we make several recommendations addressed to both institutional research professionals and the Association of Institutional Research.

This case study documents a successful application of data-mining techniques in enrollment management through a partnership between the admissions office, a business administration master's-degree program, and the institutional research office at Willamette University (Salem, Oregon). (Contains 1 table and 3 figures.)

Data-mining technology's predictive modeling was applied to enhance the prediction of enrollment behaviors of admitted applicants at a large state university. (Contains 4 tables and 6 figures.)

Integrated planning promotes collaborative thinking and furnishes mechanisms for linking strategic plans with operational plans. (Contains 1 figure.)

A former chancellor outlines how he successfully transformed the culture of his campus to enhance retention and student success.

There is no right way to forecast college enrollments; in many instances, it will be prudent to use both qualitative and quantitative methods. Methods chosen must be relevant to questions addressed, policies and decisions at stake, and time and talent required. While it is tempting to start quickly, enrollment forecasting is an area in which…

Revenue forecasting is the critical first step in most college and university budget-planning processes. While it seems a straightforward exercise, effective forecasting requires consideration of a number of interacting internal and external variables, including demographic trends, economic conditions, and broad social priorities. The challenge…

The authors outline how the University College (UC) model can serve as an effective vehicle for others.

A dramatic increase in the pool of college-age students in the next 20 years is inevitable, but this will not necessarily lead to dramatic increases in higher education enrollment. Enrollment forecasters must ask how economic growth, tuition increases, or an increase in standardized test requirements will affect demand and be clear about…