Addressing “Summer Melt” Amid Declining Enrollment in Higher Ed

The education industry continues to experience extensive disruptions, some of which will have lasting repercussions. One of the most significant challenges colleges and universities now face is an overall decline in student enrollment. According to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, undergraduate enrollment fell by an estimated 9.4%—nearly 1.4 million students—over the last four years, especially among low-income and first-generation students, women, and students of color.

This makes the annual summer melt phenomena—when students enroll in the spring but do not attend in the fall—an even greater concern. In the National Center for Education Statistics’ most recent survey, the most frequently cited reason for canceling plans to attend college was the inability to pay. Therefore, it is critical to engage students and their families in the financial aid process before and during enrollment, make it easy for them to find and update important documents, and keep them engaged throughout the spring and summer months.

Here are some tips on developing a comprehensive communication strategy to keep applicants and enrollees engaged, informed, and excited about attending your school.

1. Leverage your data to personalize communications.

• Ensure you have an enrollment management system with prescriptive analytics to help identify at-risk enrollees. Use data trends and patterns to drive communication strategies

• Pull reports to see which students have incomplete forms, have not selected courses or housing, or are otherwise unresponsive

• Personalize your communications based on enrollee activity and characteristics

2. Embrace technology.

• Use SMS as a primary communication channel and set up automated text reminders as deadlines approach. Today’s students prefer texting to most other means of communication

• Provide a single, mobile-friendly online portal where new and returning students can access information, complete course and housing requests, and communicate with their teachers

• Use video in your communications. Get coaches, professors, and other key faculty and staff to create welcome videos for students with whom they will interact

3. Provide one-on-one support.

• Assign all enrollees a dedicated advisor and encourage constant communication

• Develop a program for existing students to connect with and mentor enrollees

• Make advisor updates and information tracking available to other offices to increase personalization

4. Communicate your institution’s unique value.

• Tap into your alumni community and incorporate their success stories in your communication plan

• Find the “influencers” on your campus and encourage them to promote your institution in their content

• Share your story and share the impact your institution is having on its community

5. Build excitement and create a sense of belonging.

• Create an identity for your incoming freshman class and use it to brand social media groups, swag, marketing materials, and more

• Build a digital hub for the incoming class to connect with other enrollees, existing students, faculty, and staff