Financial Aid Optimization

Financial Aid Optimization That Fuels Enrollment Success

Optimize financial aid strategy with individualized modeling that aligns enrollment goals, controls costs, and drives results.

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Our Approach

We build individualized, data-driven financial aid optimization strategies that align enrollment and aid under one clear vision. By combining advanced predictive modeling, market insight, and ongoing expert guidance, we help your institution shape the right class, manage discount rates, and achieve sustainable enrollment success year after year.

Dig a Little Deeper With Financial Aid Optimization

Financial Aid Modeling
Align your admission and aid strategies under a coordinated, consistent vision. Our sophisticated predictive models and depth of consulting expertise help you meet or exceed your enrollment goals while controlling discount rate.
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Recruitment Modeling
Develop more targeted and cost-efficient approaches to recruitment. By scoring every prospective student record with an application probability, we help your team make the most of limited resources. Understanding conversion probability helps you focus recruitment messaging, evaluate the return on investment for key lead sources, and more effectively segment your communications.
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How it Works

Build a Clear Picture of Your Enrollment Landscape

We start by gathering enrollment and financial aid data, learning your goals, and understanding your institutional context. This foundation ensures your strategy is grounded in your realities, not assumptions.

Model Yield and Retention With Precision

Our analysts develop predictive yield and retention models that reveal how academics, demographics, and finances drive student decisions, informing every recommendation with precision.

Optimize Financial Aid for Maximum Impact

Using custom software, we test multiple awarding scenarios to find the balance between net revenue and enrollment success. You’ll see exactly how each adjustment impacts your class.

Refine Through Ongoing Analysis

Throughout the cycle, we monitor performance and make timely interventions to stay on track, adapting financial aid strategies as markets shift and behaviors evolve. Continuous improvement ensures lasting impact.

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A Customized Enrollment Strategy Helps Overcome Market Challenges

Operating in the highly competitive New England market during a time of declining enrollments, the University of Maine grew headcount and tuition revenue with a highly personalized approach.

Featured Financial Aid Optimization Case Study

“Our partnership with Carnegie transformed our enrollment strategy. With their expert guidance in scholarship modeling, enrollment forecasting, and process optimization, we grew first-year and transfer enrollment by over 10% and increased net tuition revenue.”

Kevin B. Coughlin, Ph.D.
Vice President of Enrollment Management
University of Maine

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University of Maine

University of Maine

A customized enrollment strategy to overcome market challenges.
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Research

Higher Ed Student Search RFP Guide

So, you’re looking for a new Student Search partner? Writing an informative and robust request for proposal (RFP) increases both the quantity and quality of proposals your college or university will receive; allowing you to choose the perfect partner. But what exactly should be included in your RFP? This guide serves as a template to help you write a great RFP and find the perfect partner for your next Student Search.

Learn More

Our Thoughts on Financial Aid Optimization

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Enrollment
Summer Research Series: Findings Recap
Watch
Financial Aid Optimization
Planning for Pell Grant Changes in an Era of Financial Aid Uncertainty for Higher Ed

By Mike Keane

Enrollment Strategy
Adapting Student Search: Strategies for Tight Budgets and Enrollment Pressures

By Trent Gilbert

Financial Aid Modeling
Tea Leaves, Causality, and Consistency: What Should We Do About Financial Aid Appeals?

By Mike Keane

Related Services That Drive Enrollment Results

Lead Generation
Reach students before your competitors. Our exclusive Carnegie data and intent signals fuel high-converting outreach that transforms awareness into action.
Explore Lead Generation
Market Research
Insight that drives smarter growth. Understand your audiences, competitive landscape, and opportunities through rigorous market research that blends data with higher ed expertise. The result: actionable insight that strengthens your strategy.
Explore Market Research
Slate Optimization
Maximize your Slate CRM with a custom implementation, ongoing Slate Captain support, or team training and build a sustainable system that drives results long after launch.
Explore Slate Optimization
Predictive Analytics
Anticipate who will apply, enroll, and persist with AI-powered insights that turn data into confident decisions and better outcomes.
Explore Predictive Analytics

Build a Financial Aid Strategy That Performs

Higher education’s challenges are real, but so are the results you can achieve with the right partner. Let’s build a financial aid strategy that strengthens enrollment and supports every student’s success.