Service Line: Financial Aid Optimization

In considering the headlines of the past few months and in working with colleges and universities as they enroll new student cohorts and build pipelines of future prospective students, there is one feature of our new environment that is particularly unsettling. Higher education institutions know they must assess and respond, but—particularly when it comes to enrollment—it’s not exactly clear what they’re responding to.

One of the most consistent trends in higher education over the past 10-15 years has been rising tuition discount rates. NACUBO’s annual Tuition Discounting Study for private institutions and the College Board’s Trends in College Pricing and Student Aid both highlight a sobering reality: Inflation-adjusted tuition and fee revenue per student has fallen over the past 15 years.

Enrollment professionals at colleges and universities are accustomed to April being a month of uncertainty. Admission teams read the tea leaves of deposit progress, yield event attendance, email open rates, and any other available indicator of interest and engagement, knowing that a significant portion of first-year student commitment deposits will arrive in the days preceding May 1.

Achieving new student enrollment goals each year is a critical priority. But in today’s landscape of intensifying competition and pressures to keep costs affordable, it’s a delicate balancing act to bring in an incoming class that meets both academic and financial objectives.

The Department of Education recently announced that the new 2024–2025 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) will be available in December instead of the usual October 1. This has added considerable uncertainty as institutions prepare for potential changes to student aid eligibility and adjust dates and deadlines, especially for prospective undergraduate students.

The recent scramble by financial aid offices to update cost of attendance budgets based on guidance from the Department of Education was a reminder that there are more significant changes to come.

Higher education marketing and enrollment strategy leader Carnegie announced today its acquisition of the National Small College Enrollment Conference (NSCEC), the industry’s only conference dedicated to serving the needs of small colleges. Ensuring the NSCEC continues to thrive is the first of several commitments Carnegie intends to roll out in 2023 as part of its new Small College Initiative.

Earlier this year, Maguire Associates, one of higher education’s most reputable enrollment management firms, became a Carnegie company. The Maguire team has a proven track record when it comes to financial aid optimization, financial aid modeling, recruitment modeling, and student success modeling.

You may have heard that one of the industry’s most trusted and reputable enrollment management firms, is now part of the Carnegie family! With this partnership comes the capacity to support clients in critical areas like financial aid modeling, recruitment modeling, student success modeling, and more.