RNL Recognizes Three Colleges and Universities for Excellence in Enrollment, Student Success, and Fundraising


Leading higher education firm to present awards at the RNL National Conference on July 25

July 18 2019—RNL®, leading provider of higher education enrollment management, student success, and fundraising solutions, has honored three colleges and universities with awards for their achievements in college student recruitment and marketing, student success and completion, and alumni engagement and fundraising.

Florida Southern College of Lakeland, Florida, is the 2019 winner of the Peter S. Bryant Marketing & Recruitment Excellence Award (MREA), which recognizes programs that have made an impact on campus enrollment. Florida Southern was honored for successfully implementing numerous strategies and solutions to increase enrollment, including adding digital strategies to their application and yield efforts and personalized financial aid award videos to increase enrollment yield.

For achievements in strengthening student success, the College of Saint Elizabeth in Morristown, New Jersey, received the Lee Noel-Randi Levitz Retention Excellence Award (REA). The college integrated a literacy-intensive summer bridge program based on The Autobiography of Malcom X, with highly structured first-year programming to bolster student persistence. For the past three years, the program has increased year-to-year retention, especially among student populations that are more vulnerable to attrition.

Louisiana Tech University was awarded the Fundraising Innovation Award (FIA) for its remarkable achievements in donor engagement. Despite a 20-year national trend of declining alumni participation, Louisiana Tech has seen a 75 percent increase in alumni donors since 2015-16. The university has taken a forward-thinking, omnichannel approach to donor engagement, using digital advertising, crowdfunding, text messaging, and a giving day along with traditional channels such as email, phone, and direct mail.

“These three institutions show that innovation, data-informed strategies, and determination can produce tremendous success for campuses and their constituents,” said Sarah Coen, senior vice president at RNL who oversees the firm’s consulting services. “By honoring them, we are not only recognizing their hard work and ingenuity, but also providing models that can help other institutions achieve ongoing success.”

Florida Southern College, the College of Saint Elizabeth, and Louisiana Tech University will be recognized in front of 1,500 higher education professionals at the 2019 RNL National Conference during an awards ceremony on July 25. The MREA and REA winners were chosen via a national application process and selected by a panel of judges. The FIA winner was selected by a group of RNL fundraising consultants and experts.

About RNL

RNL is the leading provider of higher education enrollment, student success, and fundraising solutions. The firm serves more than 1,900 colleges and universities through data-driven solutions focused on the entire lifecycle of enrollment and fundraising, assuring students find the right program, graduate on time, secure their first job in their chosen field, and give back to support the next generation. With a deep knowledge of the industry, RNL provides institutions the ability to scale their efforts by tapping into a community of support and resources.