Firm recognizes nine institutions for their exceptional work in recruiting students, increasing student success, and engaging alumni
July 24, 2018—Ruffalo Noel Levitz (RNL), leading provider of higher education enrollment management, student success, and fundraising solutions, has recognized nine colleges and universities for their innovations, strategies, and results in recruiting college students, strengthening student retention and success, and increasing alumni engagement and fundraising—the three pillars of the college lifecycle.
Three institutions received Marketing and Recruitment Excellence Awards
The Peter S. Bryant Marketing & Recruitment Excellence Awards recognize programs that have made an impact on campus enrollment. A panel of RNL experts evaluated nominees on criteria related to student awareness, inquiry, application, admission, deposit, and enrollment.
- Barry University of Miami Shores, Florida, created new recruitment strategies that led to a 69 percent increase in freshman enrollment and a 98 percent increase in applications.
- Weber State University in Utah implemented a strategic enrollment plan that produced a 57 percent increase in out-of-state enrollments as well as in-state enrollment gains.
- Bates Technical College of Tacoma, Washington, produced double-digit gains in first-time enrollment in a highly competitive market for community and technical colleges.
Four campuses honored with Retention Excellence Awards
The Lee Noel-Randi Levitz Retention Excellence Awards Program was established in 1989 to recognize the most successful, state-of-the-art retention programs in use at many kinds of institutions. Winners were selected by a national panel comprised of leading retention practitioners.
- Palo Alto College of the Alamo Colleges District in San Antonio, Texas was honored for increasing its first-to-second year persistence by more than 7 percentage points while serving a population of many first-generation, low-income students.
- Augustana University of South Dakota raised fall-to-fall freshman retention from 80.7 percent to 86.2 percent in three years through a variety of measures.
- Saint Louis University’s Retention and Student Success Council not only increased retention and graduation rates to all-time institutional highs, its increase in graduation rates helped reduce average student loan debts by $5,600.
- The University of Utah created a Student Success Advocates program that resulted in 29,000 interactions between university students and the SSA staff reaching out to them across multiple channels.
Two universities received inaugural Fundraising Innovation Awards
RNL also chose two institutions for its first-annual Fundraising Innovation Awards, created to recognize higher education fundraising programs that make an impact on annual giving, alumni affinity, and advancement. Institutions were chosen by a panel of RNL fundraising experts.
- The Montana State University Alumni Foundation achieved a 15 percent growth in donor counts and 29 percent increase in revenue for its annual fund in the 2018 fiscal year.
- The University of Connecticut Foundation received an award for a number of strategic enhancements, particularly its use of alumni engagement scoring and automated marketing.
“In an increasingly competitive and difficult environment, colleges and universities must continuously innovate to shape their enrollments, maximize student outcomes, and amplify their fundraising results,” said Brett Frazier, chief customer officer at Ruffalo Noel Levitz. “These nine colleges and universities illustrate the way forward in these critical areas and follow the data-driven strategic approach RNL recommends for all institutions.”
For more information, visit RuffaloNL.com.
About Ruffalo Noel Levitz
Ruffalo Noel Levitz 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, Ruffalo Noel Levitz provides institutions the ability to scale their efforts by tapping into a community of support and resources.