No Problem, We’ll Just Enroll More Students
BY SUSAN LAIR, PHD - CONSULTANT, EXECUTIVE COACH
If it were only that easy!
It's that time again when the Finance Committee chair looks at the Head of School and says something like, "Just wanted to remind you that the strategic plan says we will increase the school by 10% for next year." That's all well and good, but is it practical? For a school with 500 students, that is fifty additional mission-aligned individuals.
Truths
As Heads of Schools, we know two truths.
It's easier to spend money wisely than to raise it.
It's cheaper to keep mission-aligned students than to enroll new ones.
Start with Why Do Parents Choose Your Private School
In the United States, less than 10% of eligible school-aged children attend private schools. So, why do parents choose private schools?
Improved Safety – Safety is by far the #1 reason people leave the public school system. According to a study conducted by the Fraser Institute and reported by Darryl Gangloff, "private school parents strongly agreed that their school was safe — a factor that they said improved both the quality of their child's educational experience as well as their ability to achieve."
School Culture and Community – Through the Admissions process, schools seek to ensure an appropriate match between a prospective student and the mission and philosophy of the school. Not surprisingly, a NAIS survey disclosed that 62% of private school families believe their school is motivating, supportive, and nurturing. Parents often report that they have a much more distinct voice in the private school system compared to the public, resulting in a more family-friendly community feel to the school. Parents and administration typically experience an open communication dialog, with regular parent-teacher contact, welcomed parent involvement, participation in social events, and fundraising campaigns.
Academic Standards – According to the National Center for Education Statistics, private high schools list more vigorous graduation requirements than their public and charter school counterparts, requiring more coursework to be completed. The result is a graduating student body that comprises 32% of the graduates from the top five Ivy League schools, performs better on tests, has higher levels of written, verbal, and mathematical ability, enjoys a lifetime sport, and participates in fine arts.
Extra-Curricular Activities – Hotchkiss, like many private schools, boasts that 94% of its student body participates on a sports team. In addition, private schools seek to produce class schedules that accommodate extra-curricular subjects and allow more students to learn multiple languages, join a sports team, participate in the school musical, play in the orchestra, or have a voice in the debate club. Extra-curricular opportunities allow students to develop new interests, learn valuable life-long skills, and participate in a community or team that contributes to their school experience and pays off when they enter the workforce.
Smaller Classes – Many quality studies on class size have tried to determine the optimum number for specific age groups, but the jury is still out. Whether it's reality or perception, parents and students point to smaller class sizes as a critical contributor to improved student performance, preparation for post-secondary studies, knowledge of classics, and focused academic curriculum, and the close student/teacher relationships found in private schools. Further, teachers report that smaller classes allow them to hone in on their students' strengths and weaknesses and work more efficiently to help optimize the students' learning style when needed.
Religious Affiliation – According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, 90% of private school parents (at schools defined as secular or religious) say their family's religious or spiritual beliefs are essential to how they lead their lives. Religiously affiliated schools define their religious identity, customs, instruction, and culture; even secular private schools emphasize the value of honor, integrity, honesty, and fair play.
The Cost of Enrolling Mission-Aligned Students
Close to ninety percent of the income private schools use each year is generated through the Advancement Department – Admissions, Marketing, and Fundraising. I'm always astonished when I work with a school whose enrollment is suffering yet does not see the need for someone whose specific job is to enroll and manage mission-aligned students. I'm equally dumbstruck by a school that can't define why it exists. Julliard had an excellent statement, "We exist because we can't imagine a world without music." The business of admissions is complicated and specific to your school. When a family dedicates anywhere from $8,000 to $35,000 a year for their child's education, they expect and deserve a clearly defined and consistent process that is fair, transparent, and enrolls students for whom the school can meet their needs.
Why Are Students Leaving Your School?
You've consistently enrolled the number of students the strategic plan called for, but how is your mission delivery doing? My observation is that a lack of mission delivery is at the heart of why most families leave. Okay, maybe a particular family's expectations about what the school said it could and would do were unrealistic. I'm not talking about that family. I'm talking about the families that enrolled because the school said it had a comprehensive dyslexia program, or their curriculum was project-based, or the school has an extensive system of clubs, or that misbehavior would be addressed fairly and consistently according to the handbook, or the school would allow their child to use competitive equestrian riding as their PE credit or the school's curriculum is aligned so well with the advanced placement program that 70% of AP students score a 4 or 5 on their final exam. In some way, the school failed to deliver what it said, or what is more devastating, it filled a seat to satisfy the plan at the expense of a "mission-aligned" student. In fact, research says that for every non-mission-aligned student, the school puts itself at risk of losing three students, the student behind him, and those on either side. Schools must pay as much attention to regular checks on their mission delivery and follow up with meaningful corrections as the school spends on snazzy website virtual tours and new student admission events. Further, the overestimation of enrollment growth can create a regression in enrollment. Reneging on promises because the school lost as many students as they planned to admit creates a lack of trust in students, parents, teachers, and ultimately, the Board of Trustees.
What Do We Mean by Capacity?
How many students can comfortably fit in the school? How many school-aged children live within a five to ten-mile radius of the school? And is it our promise of small classes or the number of students that can efficiently divide into learning groups and classroom space?
Capacity is the number of students your school can comfortably accommodate. Check the following numbers with your state's requirements, but each preschool child needs between 55 and 80 sq. ft. of usable indoor space. That means for 16 four-year-olds you need a classroom between 880 sq. ft. (approx. 28' X 28') to 12,800 sq. ft. (approx. 113' x 113"). Preschool classrooms with less than 55 sq. ft. of usable space per child are approaching the minimum square footage required by state licensing agencies for daycares, and that is not why the family enrolled in your private school.
Minimum kindergarten through first-grade requirements are 45 sq. ft. per child, and 2nd through 12th grade require at least 40 sq. ft. per student. Since private school class counts for grades 2 through 12 range from 16 to 20 students, elementary, middle, and high school classrooms must be about 800 to 900 sq. ft. (30' x 30').
Private school parents seek a cut above what they can receive from daycare, charter schools, and public schools. Additionally, programs like Montessori, Reggio Emilia, applied learning, International Baccalaureate, and Advanced Placement require more space. School Boards, admission offices, and Heads of School should take the time to calculate the usable space within each classroom before arbitrarily deciding the school's capacity.
How does the school determine household incomes and the number of school-aged children within a five to ten-mile radius?
It's relatively easy to find household income data and the number of school-aged children within a particular zip code. Some websites will require a small fee, but many are free. Two free websites are Census Reporter at https://censusreporter.org/profiles/86000US______ (add the zip code you want to check after US) and United States Zip Codes at https://www.unitedstateszipcodes.org/_____/ (add the zip code you want to fit between the /_____/.
Attrition Information to Track
Jill Avery, a senior lecturer at Harvard Business School and an author of HBR's Go To Market Tools, says that acquiring a new customer is anywhere from five to 25 times more expensive than retaining an existing one.
"Customer Churn Rate is a metric that measures the percentage of customers who end their relationship with a company in a particular period," says Avery. Many investors, donors for private schools, will use the customer churn rate metric to evaluate the company's underlying health. The higher the churn rate, the more they question the company's viability. Private schools have their "Churn Rate"; we call it attrition.
Establish "Exit Interview" questions and a procedure for all students leaving the school. Ensure that Enrollment Managers (Admission Directors) conduct exit interviews with each family leaving the school before the last grade or graduation. No school wants a family to say, "We didn't turn in our re-enrollment contract, and no one even asked why." In addition to the exit interview, each year, division leaders or teachers track essential information like:
Grade Level
Student Name
Gender
Year Entered the School
Reason for Leaving
Student Transferring to ____ School
Comments & Additional Information
From this list, you can determine trends, specific schools students are transferring to, grades after which students leave, and, most importantly, you can seek solutions for why families leave.
As you finish this year and plan for the next, remember that for private schools, appropriate admission policies and procedures and enrollment management work together to form one of the three levers of financial success and sustainability.
What are some of the most captivating and inspiring signature programs you’ve encountered in schools? We’d love to hear from you, email design@educationgroup.com.