capture + Madonna university Case Study
How Madonna University turned behavioral intelligence into a record-breaking 19% yield increase
Madonna University is a Catholic liberal arts institution in Livonia, Michigan, serving a close-knit student body with a small, but high-performing, enrollment team. Competing in Greater Detroit – one of the nation’s most challenging undergraduate markets – Madonna has consistently grown despite headwinds that have shuttered peer institutions. The stakes are real: every enrollment decision directly affects the university’s financial sustainability and mission.
The challenge
Madonna’s counselors knew prospects were browsing their website, but they didn’t know which prospects were truly engaged, what was top-of-mind for them, or when to reach out. Without visibility into that behavior, the team was left guessing who to call and what to say, leaving high-intent students unengaged at the most critical moment.
The approach
Madonna partnered with Capture to surface behavioral intent data before students entered the traditional funnel. Capture gave counselors early visibility into who was most likely to apply and what they cared about to enable personalized and purposeful outreach from the first touchpoint.
Madonna University increased yield by 19%, achieving its highest first-year enrollment in institutional history and surpassing 300 new students for the first time ever.
That milestone didn’t happen by accident. It was the direct result of a team that finally had the visibility to act early and the behavioral intelligence to act smarter.
Early results for 2025–2026 confirm the momentum is real. Applicants who engaged with Capture content are depositing at 10.8x the rate of non-engaged applicants, and Capture-engaged admitted students are depositing at 9.6x the rate of their non-engaged peers. For a lean team competing in a tough market, that kind of conversion efficiency isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s the difference between hitting goal and missing.
10.8x
Higher deposit rate than non-Capture-engaged applicants
300
First-year students, a historic class
19%
Increase in first-year yield
“There is a fine line between what a vendor is and what a partner is. The way that Capture does things, they come alongside you. I really look at them as an extension of what it is that we get to do every single day.”
– Trish Everett, VP of Admissions and Marketing