Enrollment Management Electronic Newsletter

Institutional SEM Strategies

Phase I: Recruitment Strategies

Recruitment can be defined as the active process an institution uses to constructively influence a prospective student's decision to attend an institution. The recruitment phase begins with identifying prospects that are eligible to attend and may have some affinity for the institution.

The basis of recruitment is the student's enrollment decision process which relies on two main sets of variables, one centered on the student and the other around the institution.

Student variables affecting the decision include the student's academic and leadership ability, interests, socioeconomic background, the influence of key advisors, aspirations and values, demographic characteristics and geographic considerations, and finally the student's expectations.

Institutional variables that enter into the enrollment decision process include academic program availability and direction, reputation, community opportunities, condition of physical plant, location, and opportunity cost.

The decision to enroll results from student's analysis of these variables which results in a perceived alignment between student needs and priorities and institutional characteristics. The student-centered variable becomes the prospect search criteria, while the institutional-centered variables become the focus of institutional development.

Phase II: Marketing Strategies -- Coming Up in the Next Issue!

* Sources cited for this article are Strategic Enrollment Management, 2nd Edition, AACRAO, 1997, and SEM and Institutional Success, AACRAO, 2008.