Develop and Implement a Plan to Increase Student Enrollment

Enhance enrollment management by conducting comprehensive reviews, developing targeted recruitment strategies, analyzing retention initiatives and increasing enrollment across various student segments.

The plan includes optimizing scholarship programs, improving campus visit experiences, simplifying transfer processes, targeting adult learners, expanding funding opportunities for graduate students, and identifying new segments for growth through market analysis and targeted marketing:

Conduct a comprehensive analysis of enrollment management

Conduct a comprehensive capacity review (not just classroom and academic program sizes) to help determine a realistic enrollment target, broken down by student segments.
Identify academic programs to start, stop or grow that align with opportunities for enrollment growth.

Develop recruitment strategies

Establish an appropriate international student enrollment goal.
Perform a comprehensive environmental scan, which analyzes data trends – both internal and external to the university – that impact the enrollment and net revenue of the university.
Strategically address enrollment mix (i.e., proportion of undergraduate degree seeking [first-time new in college (FTNIC)] students, transfers, readmits, continuing), graduate, international, precollege) and how the mix impacts both headcount and net revenue.
Develop a more agile curricular workflow process that is aligned with the needs of students and emphasizes students with prior academic credits.

Analyze retention

Conduct a comprehensive analysis of areas (e.g., student affairs, student success, advising) and initiatives (e.g., Boomer Bot, advising notes and ATLAS, high-impact practices, GEP 101, Bear CLAW) that contribute to student retention (Student and Alumni Experience).

Increase FTNIC student enrollment

Assess and modify the university’s scholarship program, particularly the way it affects headcount, budget and net revenue, strategically prioritizing those factors. Increase recruitment at all levels of the funnel of students by increasing resources for new sources of prospect FTNIC records outside of the current primary source, Encoura, and by expanding the geographic scope of our prospect record purchases (new and expanding markets).
Increase recruitment mailing volume and variety of mailings to compete with competitors’ mail volume. Send mailings to convert inquiries to applicants and admits to enrolls.
Level up the campus visit experience by creating a more visitor-friendly campus map: incorporate the Advancement Center, improve Welcome Center branding and technology and include a visit to Great Southern Bank Arena.
Increase overall campus understanding of and engagement with the campus visit process, including participation in one-on-one meetings with visiting students.
Assess the communication of the to-do items required of admitted students and determine if improvements would make it easier and more understandable. Each step of the process after admission can be a barrier, deterring our admitted students. Analyze each step of the process to look for and remove barriers.
Include strategies for maintaining or increasing FTNIC international student enrollment.
Prioritize residence hall maintenance and repair.

Increase first-time undergraduate transfer student enrollment

Simplify and support the transfer credit evaluation process for students.
Increase connections and agreements with community colleges.
Review current 2+2 and transfer degree plan processes and identify improvements.
Develop a more robust transfer student orientation program.
Assign designated in-person advisors to conduct office hours at high-transfer-rate community colleges.
Reevaluate scholarship deadlines.
Investigate the possibility of preadmission advising notes.
Market residence life to transfer students.
Include strategies for maintaining or increasing international transfer student enrollment.

Increase readmitted student enrollment

Initiate marketing efforts to recruit adult learners to MSU, utilizing the Fast Track Workforce Incentive Grant.
Employ a non-consumer campaign that will target some-college, nocredential students as well as true non-consumers.
Coordinate a campaign to recruit MSU stop-out students (currently through ReUp).
Develop employee partnerships. Assist adult learners using tuition reimbursement funds and visit employers to engage with human resources personnel and employees interested in attending MSU.

Increase graduate student enrollment

Develop and implement marketing strategies that target Missouri State undergraduate students to continue their education with a graduate program.
Continue to expand community and business partnerships to increase funding opportunities for graduate students, including graduate assistantships and tuition reimbursement.
Collaborate with Student Support Services and Adult Student Services to create a stronger sense of belonging and resources for online graduate programs and students.
Utilize deans’ enrollment targets and the current influential factors identified in targets to allocate marketing resources, including search engine optimization and paid social media ads, toward graduate programs with the highest demand.
Increase undergraduate-to-graduate conversion.
Include strategies for maintaining or increasing international graduate student enrollment.

Increase non-degree-seeking student enrollment

Increase dual-credit students through additional partner high schools.
Increase international cohort programs.

Identify and pursue new segments for enrollment growth

Conduct a market analysis about demographic trends and underserved markets.
Use targeted marketing tailored for new student segments.
Connect with employers and community organizations to address specific workforce gaps.