Aaron Basko, Vice President for Enrollment Management, discusses how his campus came back after nearly facing closure and is now having tremendous success.
Sweet Briar College is a private women’s college in Virginia. It’s also an institution that was on the brink of closure several years ago. But new leadership has put the college back on track, in part because of its partnership with RNL.
Sweet Briar has completely rebuilt its enrollment, in particular rebuilding their funnel and identifying who is the right student for the new Sweet Briar College. One of the most positive things is how they have seen an increase in students picking Sweet Briar as their first-choice institution. The college also adjusted their early decision program to capitalize on this. In addition, the college did a price reset and re-calibrated their financial aid model—a model that has been very accurate in 2021.
Now the institution is having its best success in years and is confident that it will sustain this success in years to come. As Vice President for Enrollment Management Aaron Basko says, “When you go through a near-death experience, you often come out better on the other side because you know who you are.”
RESULTS
- 40% increase in applications in 2021
- 50% increase in deposits
“Our staff has benefited from the coaching they receive from RNL. When we meet with our consultants regularly, they make specific suggestions about things such as the list of students we should be targeting this week or a list of deposits that may be softer in our pool. I love that I walk away from every meeting with a checklist of things to do”
—Aaron Basko, Vice President for Enrollment Management
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