In the past, enrollment has been a laborious and manual process. But with the power of AI, colleges and universities can streamline their efforts, attract a more diverse range of students, and increase enrollment rates.

In our May 3 webinar, AI-Enhanced Yield Management: 5 Cutting-Edge Tactics to Turbocharge Your Enrollment, we took a deep dive into use cases that showcase the full potential of AI and prompt engineering in captivating students and sealing the deal with your institution.

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May 1 — A Moving Target

With many schools extending their deadlines into June (or later) and an increasing amount of summer wait-list activity for less selective colleges, the traditional May 1 deposit deadline is now a moving target. 

This has resulted in many institutions being in a perpetual state of yielding accepted students, a reality that community colleges have experienced for some time and is now becoming a reality for four-year schools as well. One major reason for this perpetual state of yield is that many schools are now flipping the system with direct admissions. 

Over 60% of colleges already accept over 80% of their applicants, making experimenting with an admissions strategy that doesn't require a lengthy application process a logical choice for these institutions. 

Schools and companies working together to accelerate direct admissions are already seeing success. While schools are seeing great success with direct admissions, this approach pushes them into a perpetual yield state.

Revolutionizing Retention with AI-Driven Early Alerts

We're also in a constant yield stage with current students, as student retention is ongoing current student yield. 

With 41% of students considering stopping out in the past six months, it's crucial that we focus on yield and retention now. 

With AI-powered predictive analytics, you can identify students who may be at risk of dropping out or underperforming and intervene early to provide additional support. This can improve student retention rates and make your institution more attractive to prospective students.

Maximize Student Engagement with AI-Enhanced Omni-Channel Communication

One cutting-edge tactic to consider is embracing omni-channel engagement. With AI-powered tools, you can communicate with students seamlessly across various platforms, including:

• site chat
• messages
• email
• SMS
• and phone 

By meeting students where they are, you can improve response times and increase engagement.

Chat Your Way to Student Satisfaction with AI-Assisted Support

Another tactic is optimizing site chat with AI assistance. Deploying intelligent chatbots help teams efficiently guide students through their options and answer queries in real-time. 

This not only frees up staff to focus on more complex tasks but also provides students with a personalized and timely experience.

BoltBot, Element451's conversational chatbot, is the smart bot that answers your SMS and web questions 24/7. It understands context and gets smarter with institution-specific content to create smoother student interactions and boost productivity.

From Cookie-Cutter to Customized: Personalizing Marketing Campaigns

But why stop at chatbots? With generative AI for personalized content, you can take personalization to the next level. 

By analyzing large amounts of data from multiple sources, AI can help you target prospective students more effectively and create highly personalized marketing campaigns that resonate with their interests. No longer is just merging a student's first name the personalization students are looking to see.

Bolt Copilot, a new feature within the Element451 CRM is an ever-evolving tool for unprecedented outreach. Provide hyper-personalized 1-1 communication with thousands of students with less time and energy. Think changing tone, persona marketing, formalities — the possibilities are endless.

Experience Campus Like Never Before

And don't forget about virtual campus tours and events. By integrating AI with virtual experiences, you can create personalized, immersive campus tours that allow students to visualize themselves as part of your community even if they aren’t able to physically visit. 

This not only enhances their experience but also increases their likelihood of enrollment.

But let's not stop there — level up student engagement, from application to graduation with fully dynamic microsites. Customizing the student's view of a page is the next level of engagement to them through the enrollment journey.

AI-powered Surveys are Driving Actionable Insights

Surveys can be a powerful tool in higher ed marketing, allowing institutions to gather valuable feedback from their applicants and improve their recruitment strategies. By using AI and ChatGPT, institutions can streamline the survey process and analyze the data more efficiently. 

One approach is to send short survey requests automatically to applicants based on where they are in the application process. This can help capture timely feedback and enable institutions to address any concerns or issues before they impact the applicant's decision. 

Additionally, AI can be used to analyze the qualitative survey data automatically, providing institutions with an ongoing stream of actionable feedback. This can help institutions stay on top of trends and identify areas for improvement in their recruitment strategies. 

By leveraging technology to improve the survey process, institutions can enhance their marketing efforts and better engage with prospective students.

Where Do We Go From Here

Overall, AI-enhanced yield management offers numerous cutting-edge tactics to revolutionize your enrollment process. From automating routine communication tasks to optimizing financial aid packages and even curriculum development, the possibilities are endless. So what are you waiting for? 

For more AI knowledge, be sure to check out our resources page which shares the latest and greatest in our AI-powered wheelhouse.