Time to change gears for the 2024 fall enrollment year and begin to think “yield”, or my favorite phrase “butts in seats.” January is a fun month; you must get back into gear after the holidays, spring students have days to figure out their schedules and payments, 2024 students are wondering about aid (even though the app was just released) all while catching up with all the students who decided to reach out while campus was closed. Yep, I remember it!
First, let me say, I feel for you and you are crushing it 😊! Second, I just thought I’d share some food for thought to help you get back into the groove.
Let’s start with the counselor app. I highly suggest going into your counselor app and using the “custom” feature in advanced search to locate which of your students were on the website over your holiday break dates. Any new prospective students who were really engaging on the website? Check what pages they were on and reach out to broach any questions. Were admitted or deposited students visiting? Check their visit history and see what they were up to on the website. Do they have any outstanding steps to enrollment?
Next, let’s refresh on our two engagement scores; CES and CAI. The CES, or Capture Engagement Score, is the speedometer measuring from 0-100 how fast the student is driving the website this week. The CAI, Capture Affinity Index (or going to “infinity and beyond”), measures the “sticky” factor — building towards 100 as a student shows more interest in your school.
This is the time of year where I start to look at the Affinity Index, a visitor showing a high affinity score. (By “high,” I usually mean a score of 80 and up.)
A lot of partners mentioned seeing an influx in early applicants. How are those early applicants doing? Early apps mean eager applicants. However, these individuals also have a longer time to stay engaged and potentially more likely to melt prior to fall.
- Use advanced search to locate your deposited and enrolled students.
- From that report, utilize the CAI column to filter the data from highest affinity index.
- Now, scroll through and look for students you recognize but haven’t heard from … students with a high score that haven’t visited in a while, etc, and keep em’ “warm.”
A Hot Tip Regarding FAFSA
Lastly, for my hot tips of the month 😉, let’s think of how we can use the FAFSA’s release as a reason to reach out. Tuition is always a hot topic when it comes to deposit season. It’s when the cost really starts to become reality.
If you’re looking for a way to broach a conversation (email, text or otherwise), a safe subject is always saving money. If you’re having a hard time starting the conversation or getting a response, I always suggest helpful information and links for the season we’re in, now being yield.
Timely for now is to make sure any admitted/enrolled/deposited students have filed their FAFSA. “Reaching out to let you know the FAFSA was released. Here are some helpful tips when filing … Also, make sure to check out our scholarships at: [link].” More generic but pertinent informational emails such as this can also be a way to blanket email a population of students as well!
For a refresh on how to navigate the counselor app, click here: https://youtu.be/KMZ0Fbu3oZc.
By Cat Hollands, Capture Client Trainer, Capture Higher Ed
