Embracing Enrollment Management: A Comprehensive Approach to College Student Marketing

INTRODUCTION As the cost of providing post secondary education continues to increase and government support steadily decreases, religiously-affiliated, private, four-year colleges are forced to rely more heavily on tuition revenue for economic viability. Not only does this require attracting a higher number of new students to the institution, it necessitates increasing the retention of students who are already enrolled. Religiously-affiliated, private, liberal arts colleges in particular are vulnerable to changes in enrollment. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that they really only compete for less than 1% of the potential college student market. Breneman (1994) speaks of them as often lacking in sizable endowments, heavily dependent on tuition, and without direct support from government. They can fail if times are hard enough. It is clear that college student marketing concepts are needed to achieve institutional enrollment goals (Whiteside, 2004). At the same time, it is also clear that colleges and universities have received marketing practices with mixed emotions. There is even confusion among higher education administrators regarding marketing and advertising terms (Jugenheimer, 1995). What has emerged is a comprehensive approach to college student marketing known as enrollment management. Religiously-affiliated, private, liberal arts colleges have implemented an enrollment management program to varying degrees with positive results in student recruitment and retention. THEORETICAL AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK "College student marketing describes the organized efforts to advance a college's mission and goals through targeted communications and the recruitment, selection, and retention of students whose capabilities will contribute to their own development and that of others" (Lay, 2004, p.4). Borrowing heavily from traditional principles of marketing, very few higher education institutions have mastered this integrated marketing approach (Black, 2004b). In fact, the common misperception that marketing is essentially advertising or selling still persists (Armstrong & Kotler, 2007). At the same time, Kotler and Fox (1995), in their work on strategic marketing for educational institutions, suggest that marketing is a central activity of modern institutions. This is further supported by Kittle's study (2000) where college and university administrators indicated that the most important audiences for institutional messages were potential students in high school and their parents. There is desire, apprehension, expertise, and lack of know-how all present at the same time. This concept is characterized by the results of Newman's (2002) longitudinal study of marketing practices in higher education which indicate that there is not a consistent, coordinated effort among colleges to implement a comprehensive marketing plan. A theoretical model for managing higher education student enrollments has been developed in tandem with college student marketing. In essence, enrollment management is the comprehensive approach to college student marketing expressed in terms more readily accepted and understood by higher education administrators. It is a rather recent development however; the increase in competition for students and the decrease in resources to execute effective strategies to recruit and retain students have heightened its adoption among many colleges and universities. Enrollment Management Theory Jack Maguire (1976) of Boston College is credited with the first use of the term enrollment management to describe institutional efforts to influence student enrollment. Kemerer, Baldridge, and Green (1982) formalized the concept proposing that it is not just an organizational concept; it is both a process and a series of activities that involve the entire campus. As a process, it includes tracking and interacting with students from the point of their initial contact with the institution until their graduation or departure from the institution. …