Case Study: Strategic Enrollment Guidance at Marquette University

Case Study: Strategic Enrollment Guidance at Marquette University

Challenge

Marquette’s strategic goals include maintaining an incoming freshman class size of approximately 1,950 students while increasing out-of-state enrollment. Additionally, they face challenges with low yield rates from Common App applicants—a trend seen across many institutions.

Background

Marquette University began its partnership with Encoura as a model-only institution. Over time, they expanded their engagement to include full-service support and adopted the Insights Cloud platform while also utilizing Eduventures Surveys and Digital Strategies. Today, they are a comprehensive Enrollment Marketing Services partner, leveraging the full suite of Encoura tools to shape their incoming class.

Outcome

Through ongoing analysis and strategic recommendations, the consultant helped Marquette:

• Focus recruitment efforts on students with higher enrollment probability.
• Adjust outreach tactics to improve yield from underperforming segments.
• Align enrollment goals with real-time data insights, ensuring a balanced and strategic class composition.

Data-Driven Strategy

Using the Encoura Platform, the consultant:

• Compared current application trends to previous years using year-over-year visualizations.
• Identified key sources of applicants (e.g., College Board, Encoura, Common App).
• Analyzed yield performance by source, noting that Common App suspects yield poorly despite high application volume.
• Collaborated with Marquette’s Director of Admissions to develop targeted communication strategies for stealth applicants and high-potential prospects.

Consultant’s Role

The consultant played a hands-on role in shaping the class. This included:

• Monitoring daily data feeds from the university to track application volume and funnel movement.
• Conducting Monthly Meetings to asses progress toward enrollment goals.
• Using predictive modeling to identify high-potential students (e.g., .9s and .8s) and evaluate their likelihood to enroll.