Book Review: “Enrollment Management: Successful Approaches With Dwindling Numbers”
This article is part of NASFAA's occasional book review series, where members share their reflections on books, published within the past five years, on higher education themes of interest to financial aid professionals. The opinions offered and statements made do not imply endorsement by NASFAA or the authors' employers and do not guarantee the accuracy of information presented. Would you like to suggest a book for a future review? Email us at [email protected] with your recommendation.
Universities across the country face multiple challenges when dealing with their enrollment goals, especially as the population of traditional college-aged students declines. “Enrollment Management: Successful Approaches With Dwindling Numbers” addresses these challenges and describes modern approaches that have helped universities develop successful, data-driven enrollment and retention strategies.
Schools often spend thousands of dollars on enrollment management (EM) consultants. How valuable would it be to have data-driven evidence about the successful strategies of others in the field? That’s what this book provides. For this work, Perry Rettig, former vice president and current distinguished professor at Piedmont University, compiled a series of essays by university department leaders currently active in areas such as admissions, financial aid, registrar, marketing, student affairs, and others.
Reviewed by Zac Steele, systems analyst for Baylor University
The essay authors offer detailed EM strategies used by their department, demonstrate the impact of these strategies, and discuss how they measure success. As a result, the book shows how each department affects EM, making it valuable to both new and seasoned EM professionals.
Rettig defines his target audience as members of boards of trustees, executive leadership, and those new to EM leadership. He asked the essay authors to address what they wish readers in those positions understood about their department’s role in EM, what has and hasn’t worked for them in increasing enrollment and retention, and what staff position they’d add if they had a modest budget increase to take their work to the next level.
Several of the authors have worked alongside Rettig at Piedmont University, although some others work within larger institutional systems, including University of Wisconsin, University of North Georgia, and University of Texas. Because the authors’ experiences are primarily from a university with fewer than 2,000 students, the book may be of particular interest to EM professionals at smaller schools that have struggled to meet their enrollment goals.
As the former director of financial aid for a university with fewer than 600 students, I can testify that decisions made by leaders in every university department affect EM. Although EM is all too often considered the job of the admissions department alone, this book clearly illustrates this should not be the case.
A common theme throughout the essays is the importance of collecting and analyzing data to make better EM decisions. Small schools with small staffs may be especially challenged by data collection, as other duties often take priority. Collecting data can be a long-term, expensive investment, as it takes time to gather enough data to observe specific patterns. Essay authors offer insights about using data effectively by describing how they have collected data for their specific departments, interpreted those patterns, acted on them, and measured their success by comparing the latest data to pre-implementation data.
While this book gives successful strategies for enrollment goals, what makes it a must read, especially for smaller schools, is seeing the patterns the authors went through to arrive at these strategies. EM is a rapidly changing landscape, and in 10 years, “successful strategies” may be different than they are today, but the pattern for determining successful strategies will remain the same.
“Enrollment Management: Successful Approaches With Dwindling Numbers,” by Perry Rettig (Ed.), Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, July 1, 2021, pp. 154.
***
Zac Steele earned his bachelor’s degree from Williams Baptist University (WBU) in 2018. After teaching high school mathematics, he returned to his alma mater two years post-graduation, initially serving as a financial aid counselor. Less than a year later, he transitioned to the role of director of financial aid at WBU. Following two years in this role, Zac joined Baylor University, where he now works as a financial aid systems analyst, leveraging his experience to support and improve financial aid processes.
Publication Date: 4/21/2025
You must be logged in to comment on this page.