SSATB’s State of the Independent
School Industry, 2013
&
Planning For Enrollment Success
Heather Hoerle, SSATB Executive Director
What are the top issues facing schools in 2014 –
cited by NAIS Heads and Board Chairs?
ISSUES
Heads
Board Chairs
1) Managing enrollment/Keeping school affordable
68%
68%
2) Marketing/branding school
55%
48%
3) Recruiting/retaining /compensating talented faculty
52%
41%
4) Developing sound 5 year financial plan for school
47%
42%
5) Creating 21st C program and curriculum
43%
34%
6) Expanding parent and alumni support
40%
53%
7) Communicating with internal and external audiences
35%
25%
8) Renovating/enhancing school facilities
30%
35%
9) Increasing financial aid
29%
27%
10) Identifying effective sources of non-tuition revenue
25%
25%^
A CALL TO ACTION:
- 5 of the top 10 issues directly involve leadership
from the Admission Office
- 6 of the 10 issues are connected to
responsibilities held by those responsible for
Enrollment Management.
Today’s Goals: Review SOTI Findings,
Understand 10 Strategies to Maximize Your
School’s Enrollment Success
Key SOTI Findings
1. Little Standardization
2. Diffuse Responsibilities
3. Challenging Environment
4. Need for Additional Skills
Wide Range of Responsibilities
Responsibility
Day
Boarding
Marketing/Communications
72%
72%
Financial Aid
55%
65%
General Administration
55%
47%
Advising/Counseling
25%
45%
Admission Only
29%
31%
Coaching/Extracurricular
12%
19%
Teaching
10%
6%
Dormitory
0%
25%
Mind the Gap!
Background
Responsbility
71.0%
60.0%
56.0%
57.0%
53.0%
43.0%
17.0%
10.0%
Classroom
School Admin
Marketing
Finance
Funnel Summary
• Where have all the inquiries gone?
– Growth of Internet = no self-identification until
application received
– Less opportunity to court families
• Economic Decline = Affordability,
accessibility issues
• Demographic declines and shift
• International enrollments on the rise
• Domestic boarders on the decline
The Coverage Ratio:
Revenue as Percentage of Operating Expenses
7.81%
3.74% 3.03%
Net Tuition Income
Annual Giving
77.06%
Endowment Transfer
Auxillary Program Fees
Total = 91.64% (many schools are operating on a margin)
Hugh Mallon, Executive Compensation
Role of Admission in
Setting Tuition
The vast majority of
schools are tuition
driven, yet 87% of
Directors of Admission
do not play a role in
tuition setting.
Admission’s Role in Setting the
Financial Aid Budget
Admission’s Involvement
with the Board
66% of respondents are not seated at the board table.
What about Admission Directors in
Higher Education?
• 65% report directly to the president
• 76% are members of the president’s cabinet
• 88% participate in board meetings*
*Witt/Kieffer, 2009
Salary Comparison
An admission leader is
generally responsible for
80-90% of a school’s
operating revenue but is
paid less than
development officers,
who have far less
responsibility for revenue
generation.
Director Salary
Average
$77,000
Day: $74, 884
Boarding: $89,132
The Salary Gender Gap
Day
Boarding
10 Strategies for
Enrollment Management
Success
Addressing SOTI’s Findings
❶❷❸❹❺❻❼❽❾
❶ Know the
Difference
Between
Admission &
Strategic
Enrollment
Management
The NAIS Enrollment Management Handbook,
NBOA’s Spring 2013 Net Assets magazine, and
SSATB’s 2013 State of the Industry Report
❷ Know Your
School’s
Enrollment
Metrics
❸ Know
Your School’s
Market
Position
❹ Know
Your
School’s
“Brand”
Promise
HAWKEN SCHOOL PRINCIPLES
1. We truly know our students...as learners and individuals.
2. We pay purposeful attention to the development of character, helping students
understand Hawken's motto of "fair play," and its founder's call to find their "better
selves.“
3. We consider developing the intellect to be a critical part of developing character
and, as such, we expect the highest levels of academic excellence from our students.
4. We orient our program with a primacy toward the development of 21st century
skills beyond the acquisition of specific knowledge.
5. We use classroom methods that place the student at the center of learning. We
teach children to make choices, manage their time, think critically and creatively,
and develop ownership for their learning.
6. We believe students find energy and passion through engagement, and we expect
them to participate and contribute meaningfully in an array of activities outside of
the classroom.
7. We believe in the power of community, and foster connections through
teamwork, partnerships, and shared experiences.
8. We appreciate difference and individuality, and embrace diversity in our
community.
Example: Hawken School’s Purpose, Promise,
Principles, Head of School Scott Looney
9. We believe students need authentic experience in the real world to make meaning
from knowledge. We consider nature, Cleveland and the global community to be
extensions of our classrooms.
10. We believe that to provide the most relevant education possible, our faculty and
administrators must be learning continually about educational best practices,
advances in technology and developments in the world.
❺ Know Your
School’s Enrollment
Challenges
State of South Carolina, WICHE data
❺ Know Your
School’s Enrollment
Challenges
State of South Carolina, WICHE data
❺ Know Your
School’s Enrollment
Challenges
Tuition
(All Grades)
$16,259
(Day)
$42,890
(Bdg)
Source: SSS By NAIS methodology for the 2013-14
academic year;
Tuition data from NAIS Facts-At-A-Glance, www.nais.org
Full-Need Income
Full-Pay Income
$0 - $63,000
$127,000
$0 - $51,788
$214,067
Assumptions: Family of four, two parents, two children,
one in a tuition-charging school, parents age 45, both
work, one earns $25K, DC residents, no net worth,
COLA = 1.000
❺ Know Your
School’s
Enrollment
Challenges
Sources: NCES, Charter School Alliance of SC
Another 9,500 in SC Virtual
Charter Schools
60 Charter Schools
in SC serving 22K
students
❺ Know Your
School’s Enrollment
Challenges
Sources: IES and http://a2zhomeschooling.com/, Dec 2013
Estimated Home
School
Population for
South Carolina:
23K Students
❻ Know Your
School’s Dependence
On Tuition
❼ Offer a
Transparent &
Accessible
Admission
Process
Ransom Everglades SSAT Admit Rate, SSATB sample score report, Wall Street Journal “legacy” graphic
❽ Experiment
with New
Methodology in
Enrollment Mgmt
(i.e. Student
Assessment)
❾ Build a
Whole-School
Admission
Perspective
The Ideal Relationship between
Admission and the Board of Trustees
EVERY board meeting should include important
information about the school’s enrollment;
dashboard enrollment metrics should be delivered
to trustees on a quarterly basis.
An annual report on the State of the School’s
Enrollment should provide charts and external data
to set a context for the school’s current enrollment
situation/competitive market status.
Business and admission officers should forecast
scenarios for trustees in order to discuss and plan
for a multi-year successful enrollment strategy.
The Ideal Relationship between
Admission and the Head of School
 Given the dependence on enrollment for
operational funding, heads of school and
admission directors should be in regular
communication. (e.g. bi-weekly meetings with
metrics focused on school’s enrollment financials)
 Heads of School should be partners with the
Enrollment Manager in dealing with strategies to
manage “the anxiety of admission” with
prospective families.
 Ditto for managing retention planning internally.
 Admission leaders need to be included in all
strategic decisions relating to tuition
increases and financial aid
The Ideal Relationship between
Admission and the Business Office
Finance is the #1 barrier to enrolling in an
independent school.
 Admission leaders and Business leaders should share in the tuition
setting process and use data (e.g. benchmark against competitor
schools) in developing a strategy for the school’s tuition.
 Both Admission and Business should work together to establish
common messaging for tuition billing and ongoing communication
with families.
 Customer Service expectations for those interacting with families in
the finance and admission departments should be established.
 Maintain shared communication about families who do not pay
their bills
 Collaborate in financial aid budget development and strategy
(ideally admission would carry out the FA decision making process
guided by the board’s goals)
The Ideal Relationship between
Admission and the Development
Office
Admission and Development leaders should work
together to share student/family data and to review
pockets of interest/alums - it should be an iterative
and mutually beneficial process.
Establish a process for sharing prospective and
newly- enrolled potential donors between
departments; develop a “hand-off” process and
debrief annually.
Review and coordinate communication calendars;
key messages from each department should be
consistent.
IND SCHOOL ADMISSION
PROFESSION AT RISK?
Is the next generation of
admission leaders even in
the pipeline?
54% of admission professionals
do not expect to still be working in
admission in 5 years!
ENROLLMENT MGMT REQUIRES
TRAINING
•
•
•
•
Leadership & Mgmt
Marketing
Data/Research
Finance
A Higher Ed Model For
Ind Schools to Consider?
Questions? Comments?
hhoerle@ssat.org