After 28 years in higher education, including 18 in executive leadership, here are 10 things I wish more boards understood.
1. Growing enrollment is not a strategy.
It’s an outcome. Strategy explains which students you’re choosing to serve, which needs you’ll meet, and why those students should choose you over their alternatives. Ask for that explanation.
2. There is no strategy without tradeoffs.
Every new program, location, or initiative competes for money and attention. Ask what the institution will stop doing to make its priorities possible. You cannot prioritize everything.
3. You’re probably not a best-kept secret.
Students visit your website. Families receive your emails. They know you exist. Have you given them a compelling reason to choose you? More advertising does not answer that question.
4. Your brand needs to make a promise that matters.
“Be Known” gave George Fox something students could value and employees could deliver. What does your institution commit to doing for students? Would they notice if you failed to do it?
5. Being small doesn’t mean being personal.
A student sent from office to office doesn’t care about your student-to-faculty ratio. Personal attention has to be delivered through advising, financial aid, billing, and everyday interactions.
6. More students don’t necessarily mean more revenue.
Enrollment can rise while net tuition revenue falls. Ask what revenue remains after institutional aid and what it costs to serve those additional students. Headcount alone cannot tell you whether growth is sustainable.
7. A lower sticker price doesn’t fix an unclear value proposition.
Before assuming tuition is the problem, ask where students go instead and what they actually pay. If they’re choosing more expensive colleges, you have a different problem to solve.
8. Admissions counselors deserve serious investment.
They help families make major decisions and influence millions in potential tuition revenue. But we often give them entry-level pay, limited training, and confusing systems to work with. That deserves attention.
9. A great student experience requires a great employee experience.
Employees deliver the promise. Unclear priorities, broken processes, and exhausted teams eventually become student problems. Ask whether your people have what they need to do their jobs well.
10. “Do we know why?” belongs in every enrollment discussion.
Up, down, or flat, a good year deserves the same scrutiny as a disappointing one. You cannot confidently repeat a success or correct a failure you don’t understand.
Boards don’t need to manage the institution. But they do need to ask questions that make management better.
If your board needs help connecting strategy to enrollment and revenue growth, let’s talk.