ENROLLMENT STRATEGIES THAT WORK

ACADEMIC SUCCESS! CATHOLIC VALUES!

PresentersJames S. Friend, Jr., M.A., Secretary for Stewardship & Development

Erica Gates, M.B.A., Director of School Marketing and Enrollment Management

Northeastern Pennsylvania275,000 Catholics5 Counties104 Parishes37 Elementary Schools7 High Schools3 Special Learning Centers12,301 Students in K-12Magnitude of the Business Enterprise: $70 million

business, 700 employees, mid-size business.

OUR DIOCESE

The way that we were running our school system did not work. We were working our way out of business.

This is a business problem: Management Economics Finance Governance Marketing

KEY ASSUMPTIONS

ENROLLMENT HISTORY Lost 30% of students (6,000) 25% of the schools and hundreds of

teachers. Engagement of the Bishop’s Commission on Catholic Schools We forced ourselves to look at the numbers. Enrollment Graphs were

created for the entire school system Painful reality

Diocese Principals Pastors Donors

Graphs were compiled into EnrollmentBooklet and shared with all constituencies

Enrollment now tracked monthly at the Diocesan level

5

90 13371

91 13407

92 13566

93 13811

94 14047

95 14252

96 14288

97 14410

98 14281

99 14122

00 13749

01 13430

02 12900

03 12251

04 11640

05 11021

06 10646

07 10262

08 9877

09 9339

10 8812

11 8676

12 8779

13 877090 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

14000

16000

93398812

8676

8779

8770

Total Enrollment Elementary

'09/'10: Lost 538 students/-5%/ -$1,237,000 tuition'10/'11: Lost -527 students/-6%/-$1,212,000 tuition'11/'12: Lost -136 students/-2%/ -$313,000 tuition'12/'13: Gained 103 students/1%/ +$237,000 tuition'13/'14: Lost -9 students/0%/ -$21,000 tuitionClosed McAdoo and Seton Academy in 2013 (183 students)

Average tuition net of financial aid is estimated at $2,300 per student.

6

90 3515

91 3531

92 3615

93 3711

94 3820

95 3854

96 3930

97 3945

98 3930

99 3929

00 3981

01 3962

02 3888

03 3811

04 3795

05 3735

06 3711

07 3780

08 3683

09 3650

10 3528

11 3513

12 3453

13 353190 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

4500

36503528

3513

3453

3531

Total Enrollment High School

'10/'11: Lost -122 students/-3%/-$610,000'11/'12: Lost -15 students/0%/ -$75,000'12/'13: Lost -60 students/-2%/ -$300,000'13/'14: Gained 78 students/2%/ +$390,000First enrollment increase in 7 yearsBiggest enrollment increase in 19 yearsTotal Freshman class increase +7%

*Average tuition net of financial aid is estimated at $5,000 per student.

ENROLLMENT HISTORY

Challenges: Sluggish economy Declining populations/baptisms in certain areas Lack of Marketing at the school level No one was held accountable for enrollment

(Diocese or School) Insufficient Diocesan support for marketing and

advertising

Accountability: Diocese/Schools Measurement/Tracking (Enrollment Booklet &

Diocesan Website) http://www.allentowndiocese.org/enrollment/

Reviewing the graphs with Principals, Pastors & Diocesan staff

Enrollment Goals: 2013-14 +2% & 2014-15 +3%

TRACKING ENROLLMENT

9

90 253

91 264

92 265

93 250

94 250

95 238

96 251

97 247

98 244

99 232

00 205

01 199

02 176

03 179

04 183

05 167

06 179

07 182

08 187

09 177

10 177

11 188

12 218

13 25290 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

177 177188

218

252

St. Margaret, ReadingBerks County

'10/'11: No change/ 0%'11/'12: Gained 11 students/6%'12/'13: Gained 30 students/16%'13/'14: Gained 34 students/16%Three years of consecutive enrollment growthLargest enrollment in 21 yearsLargest increase in 24 yearsSchool approaching capacity

10

90 2810

91 2814

92 2796

93 2773

94 2797

95 2910

96 3026

97 3065

98 3032

99 3070

00 3035

01 3010

02 2891

03 2849

04 2669

05 2544

06 2540

07 2466

08 2418

09 2294

10 2132

11 2150

12 2267

13 240290 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

2294

2132 21502267

2402

Berks County Elementary Enrollment

'10/'11: Lost -162 students/-7%'11/'12: Gained 18 students/1%'12/'13: Gained 117 students/5%'13/'14: Gained 135 students/6%Three years of enrollment growthTwo years of 100+ enrollment growthLargest increase in 24 years

MARKETING STRATEGIES Airplane Model (Value of an empty seat) Tuition Transfer Grant Program

Elementary School Grant: $1,500 ($1,000 in year 1 and $500 in Year 2). 95% of schools participated

High School Grant: $3,000 ($2,000 in year 1 and $1,000 in year 2). 100% of schools participated

Program yielded: 426 grants in 2011-12 and 473 grants in 2013-14. Retention results (1st year test) indicated 95% retention of transfer students.

MARKETING STRATEGIESMessaging: Academic Success! Catholic Values!

Target Audiences Elementary Schools: Pre-k’s, current students, transfer

students and grandparents. High Schools: Feeder/Partner Schools, current students

and transfer students.

POSTCARD CAMPAIGN

POSTCARD CAMPAIGN

BILLBOARDS & LAWN SIGNS

TV COMMERCIAL

http://www.allentowndiocese.org/ad_video/videos/2014_Spots_Baress_CSW/index.html

MARKETING SAMPLES

College Matriculation Graphs

Alle

ntow

n C

entra

l Cat

holic

HS

Cat

asau

qua

SH

S

Em

mau

s H

S

Loui

s E

Die

ruff

HS

Nor

tham

pton

Are

a H

S

Nor

ther

n Le

high

SH

S

Nor

thw

este

rn L

ehig

h H

S

Par

klan

d S

HS

Sal

isbu

ry S

HS

Sau

con

Val

ley

SH

S

Sou

ther

n Le

high

SH

S

Whi

teha

ll H

S

Will

iam

Alle

n H

S

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%99%

73%80%

68%

80% 80% 78%86% 85% 87% 90%

77%

49%

Percentage of *Area High School Students Attend-ing 2 & 4 Year Colleges or Universities

Parish Bulletin Inserts

Data Source, Public: http://www.education.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/graduates/7426

MARKETING SAMPLES

Letters & Email blasts to PREP families and partner schools

Exit Surveys: https://www.surveymonkey.com/

MARKETING SAMPLES

DIOCESAN RECOMMENDATIONS

Flat Tuition Tuition Pricing Increase Tuition Transfer Grants Memo to DRE’s Open Enrollment

ADDITIONAL STRATEGIES

Boards of Directors & Governance Healey Education Foundation Diocesan Marketing Plan Advancement Directors

(Marketing/Development) Engaged Enrollment Committees

FOR MORE INFORMATIONVisit: http://www.allentowndiocese.org/index.php?cID=1345