Dean College
Financial Aid Modeling
When the President of Dean College began her tenure there, she inherited an under-enrolled, financially unstable institution. She realized she did not have long to turn around the enrollment picture and to create a stronger financial base. Based on our track record in working with her at Babson College, she came to us to help re-position and revitalize Dean.
After benefiting from our enrollment management consulting, best practices for recruitment, and market research that identified the College’s most powerful messages, the President was ready to focus on strengthening its financial foundation. We invited Dean to be an early adopter of our enrollment management forecast analysis system (EMFASYS). This modeling system enabled the leadership to understand the enrollment dynamics of the past and to identify the key drivers of enrollment at the College. Senior administrators were able to see the effect of different trade-off scenarios for achieving a mix of different enrollment goals. In particular, we were able to show that the College could reach a significantly higher level of net total revenue. However, to achieve this goal, Dean would need to triple its financial aid budget. After we met at length with the Board of Trustees and discussed this step carefully with the President, they agreed to invest the funds required to use the model for the awarding of individualized institutional grant aid.
Our team is proud to have been a key part in the overall turnaround. All told, the results were dramatic – with immediate increases in net revenues and soaring enrollments. The College’s return on investment in financial aid was substantial and immediate. Individualized financial aid awarding practices have increased net revenue streams by over $2,000,000, and enrollment at Dean has increased by nearly 100% (560 to 1,000) since we began working with the College in the mid 1990’s. Dean has been able not only to fill existing residence halls to capacity, but also to build a new residence hall that was filled the day it opened.
With the increased tuition revenue, the College was able to renovate 15 major buildings, upgrade the classrooms, and create a wireless computing environment throughout the campus. In 2003, because of improvements in its bond rating, its ability to consistently pay down debt in the past decade, and careful controls on its budget, Dean was able to invest $1,000,000 in its endowment.
Dean has consistently relied on Maguire Associates for market research over the years, and has continued to use EMFASYS to ensure efficient use of its grant aid and increases in net total revenues.
Read about Financial Aid Modeling.