This document summarizes enrollment strategies that have helped increase Catholic school enrollment in the Diocese of Allentown, Pennsylvania. It describes how declining enrollment led to closing schools but new strategies including tuition grants, targeted marketing campaigns, and accountability measures have helped stabilize and grow enrollment in recent years. Data on enrollment trends at the diocesan, elementary, and high school levels from 1990-2014 demonstrate the impacts of these strategies. Recommendations are provided for continued enrollment management.
1. ENROLLMENT
STRATEGIES THAT WORK
ACADEMIC SUCCESS! CATHOLIC VALUES!
Presenters
James S. Friend, Jr., M.A., Secretary for Stewardship & Development
Erica Gates, M.B.A., Director of School Marketing and Enrollment Management
2. Northeastern Pennsylvania
275,000 Catholics
5 Counties
104 Parishes
37 Elementary Schools
7 High Schools
3 Special Learning Centers
12,301 Students in K-12
Magnitude of the Business Enterprise: $70 million
business, 700 employees, mid-size business.
OUR DIOCESE
3. 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
4. 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 Enrollment
Booklet and shared with all constituencies
Enrollment now tracked monthly
at the Diocesan level
5. 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 8770
9339
8812
8676
8779
8770
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
14000
16000
90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13
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 tuition
Closed McAdoo and Seton Academy in 2013 (183
students)
Average tuition net of financial aid is estimated at $2,300 per student.
6. 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 3531
3650
3528
3513
3453
3531
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
4000
4500
90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13
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%/
+$390,000
First enrollment increase in 7 years
Biggest enrollment increase in 19 years
Total Freshman class increase +7%
*Average tuition net of financial aid is estimated at $5,000 per student.
7. 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
11. 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.
12. MARKETING STRATEGIES
Messaging: 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.