Matthew Burgy, Director of Admission at St. Mark’s Episcopal School in Houston, Texas, is a “newbie” admission director with a deep set of knowledge and skills acquired in a variety of work...

by Pamela McKenna, Director of Admission, Hopkins School (CT) A few years ago, I was asked to focus on three areas of recruiting for Hopkins School, a traditional liberal arts independent coed...

In each issue, The Yield profiles The Enrollment Management Association member schools, asking how their office tackles processes and procedures and integrates trends and data into their...

Honoring the legacy of longtime dean of admission and enrollment at Rollins College (FL) David Erdmann, the inaugural Erdmann Institute for Enrollment Leadership took place on the shores of...

by Kristen Mariotti, Director of Boarding School Operations, Linden Educational Services Several years ago, when I embarked upon my first international recruitment trip representing my boarding...

In 2012, The Enrollment Management Association worked with researcher Chris Bigenho (Greenhills Schools, TX) to gather early childhood admission assessment methods used by our members for...

Ask students and families to add your email address to their address book. This “whitelists” your address to help keep your email messaging out of their spam folder. When choosing the “From”...

In 2014, The Enrollment Management Association launched the research and development plan for the new The Enrollment Management Association Character Skills Assessment (CSA). Currently in...

Enrollment management is the #1 issue facing independent schools, and admission directors are the front line in dealing with this challenging and complex issue. In an effort to support our...

Douglas Leek, Director of Admission and Enrollment Management at The Northwest School in Washington, explains that teacher recommendations, as part of the application, need to provide a baseline...

by Alex Heiberger, CFO, The Madeira School (VA) A year ago I transitioned from the university administration world into the role of independent school chief financial officer. As I encountered...

The Student Prospect List (SPL) is a member-exclusive service that provides student mailing lists to schools requiring the SSAT as part of their admission process. Last year, nearly 50,000...

Ashbury College has long been considered “the” independent school in Canada’s National Capital Region, arguably since the school’s founding in 1891. Enrollment has always been competitive, with...

By Chris Arnold and Stephen Dicicco, Co-Founders of Educational Directions Inc. Experts exploring data about philanthropy are discovering some surprising truths, with the most important one being...

By Chris Arnold, Co-Founder, Educational Directions Incorporated, RI & Stephen Dicicco, Co-Founder, Educational Directions Incorporated, RI Many of you have spent the past several weeks readying...

By Chris Arnold and Stephen DiCicco, Partners, Co-Founder, Educational Directions Incorporated Research is showing that charitable giving is steadily rebounding but there’s a difference in what...

By Chris Arnold and Stephen Dicicco, Co-Founders of Educational Directions Inc. Demographic trends may be the closest thing to a crystal ball that boards can use to see the future of their...

By Hugh Mallon, President, Executive Compensation Concepts, Ltd. If your head of school and other members of the senior leadership are considered highly compensated in the eyes of the IRS, your...

By Dr. Gerald A. Larson, Former Head, Chreshire Academt, CT It is a common refrain heard from heads, trustees, parents, and teachers: “The board micromanages the school.” In today’s fast-paced...

By Claude Anderson, Dean of Enrollment Management, Northfield Mount Hermon School Charged with the financial sustainability of the school, trustees must know about, understand, and be updated...

By Chris Arnold & Stephen Dicicco, Co-Founders of Educational Directions Incorporated With Frederick W. Williams, Head, The Rectory School, Pomfret, CT (Coed, Boarding/Day, 255 students, K-9);...

By Douglas Lyons, Executive Director, Connecticut Association of Independent Schools, Mystic, CT American independent schools are faced with a dilemma, labeled by economists as “the new normal.”...

By Hugh A Mallon III, President/CEO, Executive Compensation Concepts, Stevensville, MD In finalizing the head’s total compensation package, boards would be advised to review market data, the...

by Mikhail Zinshteyn, The Atlantic, 7/30/2015 Education writing is famous for its alphabet soup of acronyms and obscure terms, but it could just as well be faulted for trafficking buzzwords in...

With Damian Kavanagh, Vice President of Accreditation & Membership at SAIS How exactly does the mission of the school inform the admissions profile? And what can we learn from examining the last...

Join NAIS' Debra Wilson for a discussion of the tricky legal issues that surround admission - and how best to avoid them.  

With June Sadowski-Devarez The Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) recently announced that their Field Representatives are being deployed early in the first quarter of this year. Field...

With Emily Moir, Head of Admissions, Junior School, St. George's School (BC) & Reto Camenzind, Head of Admissions, Senior School, St. George's School (BC) How do you see beyond the polished,...

With Karen Loder, Director of Admission & Financial Aid, Gill St. Bernard’s School, NJ Parents historically have sought traditional independent schools as an alternative for their “struggling...

The majority of admission professionals have a strong grasp and understanding of what they do. Most can also explain to a certain degree how they do it, but how many can answer why they do it?...

With commencement ceremonies a recent memory, independent school admission offices across the globe are recalibrating and reflecting on the past cycle while simultaneously synthesizing and...

By Jonathan E. Martin, Principal, JonathanEMartin Ed. ServicesFrom The Yield, Spring 2014 Myth #1: PISA is an international ranking competition, like the Olympics of high school academics, solely...

From The Yield, Spring 2014 The Edward E. Ford Foundation, a philanthropic organization, was formed to "strengthen and support independent secondary school" (www.eeford.org). Over the nearly 60...

While it is important as a director of admission to spend time analyzing admission statistics, addressing demographic trends and forecasts, and fostering marketing initiatives, it is also...

Ernest Koe and Stephen Ritchie of the Proof Group introduce the basics of net revenue management and tuition discounting, based in part on lessons learned while working with college admission and...

From The Yield, Spring 2015 How do you develop lists of schools for your families to consider? AA:We identify the key character strengths that best serve as indicators for success. In addition,...

Presenter: Steve Robinson, Ph.D., President, Southern Association of Independent Schools (SAIS) The economic principle of elasticity refers to the relationship between price and demand when...

From The Yield, Spring 2015 In summer 2014, SSATB’s Admission Leadership Council (ALC) launched a pilot mentoring program matching experienced enrollment management professionals with new...

From The Yield, Spring 2015  Situation Judgment Tests (SJTs) are an increasingly common psychometric technique for measuring interpersonal and intrapersonal attributes. Respondents are presented...

From The Yield, Spring 2015  Thank you for renewing your membership and for allowing us to serve you as the premier association for independent school admission professionals. We are proud of the...

From The Yield, Spring 2015  The most successful schools understand the lifetime value of the customer—from the first inquiry of a prospective family to the planned gift of a proud...

From The Yield, Spring 2015 The The Enrollment Management Association board of directors kicked off the trustee nomination process this year by specifically targeting leadership in four strategic...

From The Yield, Spring 2015 Site Selection The Enrollment Management Association selects sites for audits that provide a varied representation of administrations, including those of different...

By Quentin McDowell, Senior Associate Director of Admission & Financial Aid, Mercersburg Academy (PA); Assistant Director, The Erdmann InstituteFrom The Yield, Spring 2015 We all know that the...

From The Yield, Spring 2015 In recognition of a shared commitment to high standards and ethical behavior, as of August 2015, all educational consultants who are members of The Enrollment...

From The Yield, Spring 2015 A Must Read: First-Ever Report on International Secondary Students The Institute of International Education’s inaugural report “Charting New Pathways to Higher...

From The Yield, Spring 2015 Our admission office was having tough discussions, challenging our current practices, when the The Enrollment Management Association research report The Ride to...

From The Yield, Spring 2015 The Yield profiles SSATB member schools asking how their office tackles process and procedures, and integrates trends and data into their decision making process,...

From The Yield, Spring 2015 Creating a culture for high-performing teams. As reported in SSATB’s 2013 State of the Independent School Admission Industry Report, a new set of competencies is...

It’s that time of year again. Help your board of trustees understand the latest admission season, both at your school and in comparison to the larger independent school community. Whether it’s...

By Nicole Suozzi, Chief Strategy & Services Officer, SSATBFrom The Yield, Spring 2015 In January, I had the opportunity to attend, along with a number of my SSATB colleagues, a conference on the...

From The Yield, Spring 2015  Schools invest much in their recruitment and retention strategies, yet the single biggest issue for many families— tuition—often plays second fiddle when it comes to...

An interview with Peter Gilbert, Salisbury School Director of Admissions and Financial Aid School: Salisbury School Location: Salisbury, CT Type of School: Boys’...

From the NAIS Independent School Magazine blog, 4/15/15 Never before has assessment been such a central and scrutinized component of the K-12 educational experience. With the dawning of the...

Answer these questions as honestly as you can: 1. Is interviewing a highly effective part of your admission assessment process?2. Is there a good rate of return on all the time allocated to it...

As the demands for complex marketing and recruitment strategies grow each year, fueled by the simultaneous need to meet revenue targets and satisfy savvy consumers, performance pressure rises...

With Ben Bolte, Senior Search Consultant, Carney, Sandoe & Associates & Jonathan Ball, Managing Associate/Director of Marketing, Carney, Sandoe & Associates Preparing for a job search or...

While reviewing many excellent blogs, articles, and presentations on the topic of admission data and reports, I was reminded (not fondly) of my first few years on the job (in the late 90’s) and...

The Test, by NPR’s Anya Kamenetz, is a must-read for anyone who is reading this post. Almost by definition, if you are here on this page, you are someone interested in both the current state and...

with Catherine Hay, Associate Director of Admission, Trinity Preparatory School (FL) Strategic Questions Based on contribution by Christina Drouin, Center for Strategic Planning, to NAIS...

As a child, I played a game called “Follow the Leader.” I was chosen to be at the front of the line and everyone else lined up behind me. If my friends didn’t follow what I did, they had to sit...

We believe in assessment. We believe it improves the processes we use for assembling the right student body in admission, for supporting student learning, and for continuously improving our...

From The Yield, Winter 2014 Logistics—Prompt Test Return Is Essential First, logistics play a role. The Enrollment Management Association relies on test administrators for their prompt return of...

Besides the benefits of real-time data, office efficiency, and database integration, we saw an increase of 25% in our applications in our first year using the SAO.

by Stephen P. Robinson, Ph.D. • President, Southern Association of Independent Schools (SAIS) From The Yield, Winter 2014 Price elasticity is an economic term used to represent the responsiveness...

From The Yield, Winter 2014 Independent school trustees have a significant impact on a school’s enrollment health. To learn more, The Yield sat down with Dr. William New, sitting trustee for The...

In its basic form, mentorship is the development of a personal relationship in which a more experienced or more knowledgeable person helps to...

Name of School: Epiphany School, Seattle, WashingtonEnrollment: 240Type of school: Coed, DaySchool Mission:Through innovative teaching in a caring and traditional environment, Epiphany School...

From The Yield, Winter 2014 Name of School: Saint David’s School, New York, NYEnrollment: 421, PK–8Type of school: All boys, Day Allison Vella, Director of Admissions—Allison joined Saint David’s...

by Rohit BhargavaFrom The Yield, Winter 2014 I was on a short flight from NY back to DC and opened a copy of The New York Times to find a full page ad with the simple declaration “Marketing is...

From The Yield, Winter 2014 The Yield asked Ray Cross, Director of Admission, Marianapolis Preparatory School (CT), Scott Conklin,Director of Admissions, Episcopal High School (VA), and Peggy...

By Jonathan E. Martin, Principal, JonathanEMartin Ed. Services • @JonathanEMartinFrom The Yield, Winter 2014 32 Schools Join The Enrollment Management Association in Pilot Study on Non-Cognitive...

The importance of character and personality traits, to use the common parlance, received prominent attention in a recent issue of the New York Times. The piece, entitled “Should Schools Teach...

In recent years, as the traditional inquiry has dwindled and been replaced by the anonymous internet rover, admission offices across the country have been exploring more and more ways to reach...

Yet another (they keep coming!) report has emerged arguing for the importance of elevating the “non-cognitive” in our schools. This one comes from the New America Foundation, entitled “Skills for...

With Mark J. Mitchell, Vice President, School and Student Services (SSS By NAIS), National Association of Independent Schools  Not only have the recession and the post-recession economy created...

With Jackson Marvel, Director of Financial Aid/Senior Associate Director of Admission, The Hotchkiss School & Jared Liu, Assistant Director of Admission & Financial Aid, Choate Rosemary...

As an admission professional, I collect lots and lots of data. Through our application process, we receive grades, test scores, and countless pieces of information for each student who applies to...

Dear Colleague: Tom Friedman, author of The Flat World, suggests that in today’s global, digital society, “Whatever can be done, will be done.” He admonishes all businesses and organizations to...

Learn all about the pluses of boarding school in this informative video from The Association of Boarding Schools. Related Videos: Advice on Navigating the Boarding School Application Process ...

 The research keeps coming: Non-cogs matter. This month it comes from Brookings and its Center on Children and Families. Entitled “The Character Factor” it establishes a pair of most important...

Related Webinar: Reading Your Elementary Level Score Report

Along with data/finance, assessment, and marketing, SSATB has prioritized leadership development as a core component of its professional development services. I’ve focused on the leadership...

A "prequel" to The Inaugural Directorship, this webinar highlights some of the key differences between a director and an associate director, between middle management and senior administration....

This webinar provides context around the recruitment and retention of high need families. In light of concerns over revenue and financial aid budgets, admissions offices are facing growing...

From The Yield, Fall 2014  Following our third annual call for nominations, The Enrollment Management Association’s Board of  Trustees selected four new members. “It is truly a testament to The...

From The Yield, Fall 2014 Christina Drouin, President of the Center for Strategic Planning, works internationally to advise independent school trustees, heads, and leadership teams on building...

By Lydia J. Hawkins, Director of Enrollment, Strathcona-Tweedsmuir School (Canada) From The Yield, Fall 2014 So you’ve decided to reconsider your database. Maybe you’re frustrated you can’t...

 As we continue to see here on the Think Tank blog, there are an abundance of things we should consider assessing and measuring in our schools. One we haven’t previously addressed is one that...

From The Yield, Fall 2014 Thanks to partnerships with Peter Frew, Director of Admissions at Taft School (CT), and Tom Sheppard, Dean of Admission and Financial Aid at The Lawrenceville School...

From The Yield, Fall 2014  The Enrollment Management Association’s commitment to access is not only written in our statement of core values, but is demonstrated each and every day through our Fee...

From The Yield, Fall 2014 Our Panel: Janis Clark, Director of Admissions, Collingwood School (BC)Matthew S. Hoeniger, Assistant Headmaster/Director of Admission, Rumsey Hall School (CT)Jay...

From The Yield, Fall 2014  Admission as leadership has been a reoccurring theme for SSATB and the industry as a whole. As SSATB’s State of the Independent School Admission Industry Report...

From The Yield, Fall 2014 Jerry Lucido is professor of research at the Rossier School of Education, and executive director of the USC Center for Enrollment Research, Policy, and Practice, and...

From The Yield, Fall 2014 Private independent schools are allowed to operate because agreed upon standards govern the educational process. Accreditors work to build those standards so that all...

From The Yield, Fall 2014 Scott Stratten is the president of UnMarketing and was a keynote speaker at the 2014 The Enrollment Management Association Annual Meeting. Between being ranked one of...

Related Video: The Benefits of Boarding School