catholic school enrollment strategies that work
DESCRIPTION
For two consecutive years the Diocese of Allentown has grown Catholic School Enrollment as a system using a variety of tactics that can be adopted by almost any Catholic School in the country. I will make this presentation at the National Catholic Education Association in April 2014. More materials can be downloaded at: http://www.allentowndiocese.org/index.php?cID=1345TRANSCRIPT
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