SSATB’s State of the Independent School Industry, 2013 & Planning For Enrollment Success

1. SSATB’s State of the Independent School Industry, 2013 & Planning For Enrollment Success Heather Hoerle, SSATB Executive Director

2. What are the top issues facing schools in 2014 – cited by NAIS Heads and Board Chairs?

3. 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.

4. Today’s Goals: Review SOTI Findings, Understand 10 Strategies to Maximize Your School’s Enrollment Success

5. Key SOTI Findings • Little Standardization • Diffuse Responsibilities • Challenging Environment • Need for Additional Skills

7. Wide Range of Responsibilities

8. Mind the Gap!

9. 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

10. The Coverage Ratio:Revenue as Percentage of Operating Expenses Total = 91.64% (many schools are operating on a margin) Hugh Mallon, Executive Compensation

11. 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.

12. Admission’s Role in Setting the Financial Aid Budget

13. Admission’s Involvement with the Board 66% of respondents are not seated at the board table.

14. 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

15. 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.

16. Director Salary Average $77,000 Day: $74, 884 Boarding: $89,132

17. The Salary Gender Gap Day Boarding

18. 10 Strategies for Enrollment Management Success Addressing SOTI’s Findings ❶❷❸❹❺❻❼❽❾

19. 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

20. ❷ Know Your School’s Enrollment Metrics

21. ❸ Know Your School’s Market Position

22. 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. 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. ❹ Know Your School’s “Brand” Promise Example: Hawken School’s Purpose, Promise, Principles, Head of School Scott Looney

23. ❺ Know Your School’s Enrollment Challenges State of South Carolina, WICHE data

24. ❺ Know Your School’s Enrollment Challenges State of South Carolina, WICHE data

25. ❺ Know Your School’s Enrollment Challenges Source: SSS By NAIS methodology for the 2013-14 academic year; Tuition data from NAIS Facts-At-A-Glance, www.nais.org 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

26. ❺ Know Your School’s Enrollment Challenges Another 9,500 in SC Virtual Charter Schools 60 Charter Schools in SC serving 22K students Sources: NCES, Charter School Alliance of SC

27. ❺ Know Your School’s Enrollment Challenges Estimated Home School Population for South Carolina: 23K Students Sources: IES and http://a2zhomeschooling.com/, Dec 2013

28. ❻ KnowYour School’s Dependence On Tuition

29. ❼Offer a Transparent & Accessible Admission Process Ransom Everglades SSAT Admit Rate, SSATB sample score report, Wall Street Journal “legacy” graphic

30. ❽ Experiment with New Methodology in Enrollment Mgmt (i.e. Student Assessment)

31. ❾Build a Whole-School Admission Perspective

32. 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.

33. 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

34. 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)

35. 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.

36. IND SCHOOL ADMISSION PROFESSION AT RISK? Is the next generation of admission leaders even in the pipeline? 54% of admission professionals do notexpect to still be working in admission in 5 years!

37. ENROLLMENT MGMT REQUIRES TRAINING • Leadership & Mgmt • Marketing • Data/Research • Finance

38. A Higher Ed Model For Ind Schools to Consider?

39. Questions? Comments? hhoerle@ssat.org