Grace College Case Study
Revising Student Search to Surpass Expectations
The Challenge.
Following several years of stagnant enrollment and institutional financial challenges while following a traditional model of Student Search, Grace College’s admissions and marketing leadership knew it was time for a change. The College needed to implement a more strategic enrollment and name-buy process in order to achieve its goals for enrollment growth and operational efficiency. College leadership made the decision to invest in Slate and bring Student Search largely in-house, partnering with Carnegie's Slate Optimization Team, Underscore, for Slate implementation and enrollment campaign strategies.
The Strategy.
Carnegie's Slate experts worked with Grace’s enrollment team on a suite of solutions to “insource” its Student Search, including implementation services, Slate campaigns, and name-buy consultation. By working closely with our team of Slate professionals, Grace College has been able to leverage the CRM’s power to streamline day-to-day enrollment marketing operations and make email communications more strategic. As part of its annual inquiry generation strategy, Grace also leverages various CollegeXpress segments, including Christian institutions, to generate right-fit inquiries who express interest in Grace College.
The Results.
By bringing its communications into its own Slate instance, Grace College has been able to create significant efficiencies and, most importantly, drive remarkable enrollment growth. In the first two years of partnership, Grace College enrolled the third-largest and largest freshman classes in the institution’s history in 2020 and 2021, respectively. In fall 2021, Grace enrolled more than 470 students, surpassing its team’s original goal by 10 students. Of the entering 2021 class, more than 18% of deposits had engaged with CollegeXpress during their search. From inquiry generation to Slate implementation and consultation solutions, we’re proud to serve as an ongoing partner in Grace College’s success.
2
Record setting enrollment years in two years of partnership
15%
Increase in total enrollment in 2020-2021
18%
Of deposited students engaged with Grace College on CollegeXpress
Slate Email Communications
"Take senior year from good to Grace" Grace College's Senior Student Search email campaign designed in and delivered from their Slate CRM.
Student Search Print Collateral
Grace College delivered an underclassmen Student Search campaign which included print collateral, supported by a full team of designers, writers and project managers.
"Underscore is one of our most high-impact partners. Their team gets who we are, our markets, what types of students we're pursuing, and listens well to our needs and goals. Moving to Slate, and choosing to partner with Underscore as part of that, has been a great decision for Grace College." Mark Pohl, PhD
AVP of Enrollment Management and Financial Aid
Grace College
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