Higher education has become increasingly competitive as colleges and universities compete for a dwindling pool of prospective students. According to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, fall 2020 undergraduate enrollmentdecreased by 4 percent from the prior year. Community colleges have fared the worst, with enrollment falling 9.4 percent.A confluence of factors are to blame for declining college enrollments. One is that the population of American high school graduates has plateaued. Another is that years of economic prosperity has discouraged older students from returning to school. And then there is, of course, the COVID-19 pandemic that has ushered in what many are calling the “new normal”.While colleges and universities face more challenges to their core business models, student service expectations have not diminished. These pressures have led many schools to leverage cost-effective automation technology to lower costs and provide exceptional student experiences. Three areas where schools have focused their automation efforts are the student journey, creating smart campuses, and back office processes.
Student Journey Automation
For schools to succeed in this dynamic and competitive new landscape, they must provide superior experiences at every stage of the student journey.
Enrollment Process
Improving college enrollment is a critical and complex process that involves many different criteria, parties, and workflows.Business process management (BPM) software helps schools to automate the enrollment process. Customizable forms make it easy for students to register and for schools to streamline communication with students. Centralized student records allow student enrollment staff to access student data from anywhere and quickly notify students of application decisions to keep them from enrolling elsewhere.
