July 2024 by Bob Massa and Bill Conley Two major 21st century events have impacted college enrollment trends and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. The great recession of 2008-09 and its aftermath saw the number of births in this country fall by more than 500,000. Then enter 2020 and the COVID-19 […]
Category: Insights
by Bob Massa and Bill Conley If we listen carefully to New America’s Stephen Burd and read the new book he skillfully edited, Lifting the Veil on Enrollment Management: How a Powerful Industry is Limiting Social Mobility in American Higher Education (Harvard Education Press), we’re informed that the “industry” of enrollment management has harmed higher […]
by Bill Conley and Bob Massa Enrollment Intelligence Now May, 2024 May is the month of reckoning for first year enrollment metrics. Not so long ago, it was a single day- May 1 (Candidates Reply Date-CRD)- that signaled the likelihood of hitting the enrollment target (read: tuition revenue goal). In […]
by Bob Massa and Bill Conley, Enrollment Intelligence Now March 2024 The annual presidents’ survey by Inside Higher Ed revealed major concerns facing colleges and universities in 2024 and beyond. College presidents identified a myriad of concerns (e.g., AI, the political environment in the nation and on college campuses, the impact of the […]
by Bob Massa and Bill Conley The June 2023 Supreme Court ruling striking down the consideration of race as a factor in college admissions has reignited calls for the elimination of legacy preferences and early decision (ED) programs. Yet by no means is the rallying cry to dispose of ED “new” news. […]
by Bob Massa and Bill Conley (Published in Inside Higher Ed, April 10, 2023) In January and February of this year, Inside Higher Ed published two opinion pieces by John Roberts, an engineering recruiter at the University of Kentucky. In the first piece, Roberts argues that admissions counselors should not be held responsible for hitting […]
By Bob Massa and Bill Conley Are faculty and staff members at our nation’s colleges and universities leaving their positions in higher numbers because they are no longer fulfilled in their careers and see better opportunities elsewhere, or are they throwing in the towel due to frustration, stress, and disillusionment? We pose this question, acknowledging […]
“We want to create as much opportunity for as many academically talented young people as possible, regardless of financial background or legacy status.” So said Amherst College president Biddy Martin when she announced last fall that the college was abandoning the practice of favoring children or grandchildren of alumni in admissions. A similar announcement was […]
Bill Conley & Bob Massa As published in Inside Higher Ed, February 28, 2022 Much has been written about the “Great Resignation”. The sheer scale is obvious: about 25 million workers left their jobs in the second half of 2021 alone. More ambiguous is the downstream impact on the labor markets. Where will people choose to […]
By Bob Massa and Bill Conley (published 1/24/22 in “Inside Higher Ed”) In a paper released last September by the Brookings Institution, author Alex Engler suggests that the use of algorithms to determine the amount of scholarship (i.e., discount) support students should receive does, in fact, hurt students. He claims that the “prevailing evidence” suggests […]