Admissions departments everywhere are aware of the coming 2025 US demographic event known as the Enrollment Cliff. Many are already slashing budgets and laying off staff to prepare for the expected drop-off in the prospective student population. Others are allocating resources towards strategic growth majors in an attempt to reduce exposure. A few are taking a more measured approach by leveraging institutional analytics as a ramp to traverse the looming divide.
Advancements in predictive modeling and machine learning algorithms are transforming enrollment management into a proactive field. With such powerful tools at their disposal, admissions managers are now able to identify the most effective promotional activities, and intentionally allocate their people and dollars towards them. The resulting savings in efficiency alone can often offset the costs of implementation.
If enrollment teams can adopt a process informed by data they will be better prepared to tackle the challenges ahead.
