Understanding enrollment and student retention is essential for any institution to thrive, but not knowing the basics of enrollment management is a common problem, according to Tim Fuller, senior vice president of Credo Higher Education Consulting. Because of this, In Trust writer Craig Macartney spoke with Fuller to glean his wisdom on the fundamentals of enrollment management.

Below are a few of those fundamentals:

• It takes a whole campus to enroll and retain a student.

Enrollment should be a campus-wide effort, starting with the president and permeating into the faculty and staff ethos.

• Retention is as important as admissions.

Recruitment is essential but it’s important to recruit students who are less likely to leave through attrition.

• Insist on a strong foundation of data.

All schools collect data on students, but school personnel must learn how to analyze and use this data to improve future recruitment and retention efforts.

We all know how important recruitment, enrollment, and retention are to the health of our institutions, but the complexity of enrollment management can be daunting. If you need assistance on improving your enrollment management efforts, start by reading “A lesson in enrollment management,” and if you want more resources on the topic, contact us at resources@intrust.org.