With decision season here, pause for a quick yield double-check. Step back, review the data, and make targeted adjustments you can execute immediately.
Yield is not driven by more activity alone. It reflects how intentionally efforts are focused and how students experience them in this moment, one of the biggest decisions of their lives.
Are your metrics telling a different story than your team? Their perspective matters, but the numbers set the direction.
1. Start with the numbers, not the narrative
Compare performance to goal, not to last year. Review results by segment and stage:
- Program, geography, modality, and source channel
- Event conversion from RSVP to attendance to deposit
- Award acceptance and clear-to-enroll status
- Melt-risk indicators, including inactivity, missed steps, and incomplete aid tasks
Clear segment-level visibility is the foundation for personalization that actually converts.
2. Replace hope with action
Hoping trends reverse is not a strategy. At this stage, relying on last year’s benchmarks or waiting for momentum increases uncertainty and slows decision-making. You do not need a full reset. In many cases, one part of the system needs to change, such as a single territory, program, or channel.
- Work in short cycles by testing, measuring results, and scaling what works
- Reallocate effort toward segments showing the greatest opportunity
- Use performance thresholds to guide decisions and change course quickly when needed
Late-cycle gains come from teams making confident decisions and acting on them quickly.
3. Do things differently where it matters most
Tighten the experience across outreach, follow-up, communications, financial aid, and visits. Personalization only works when insight and outreach stay connected, and when experiences feel authentic rather than incentive-driven.
- Communications: move beyond reminders to reinforce fit, belonging, outcomes, and career paths
- Counselor outreach: focus on relationship-building calls and texts for priority segments and ensure staff are aligned on current focus areas
- Accepted-student events: create moments that feel personal through student and faculty stories, hands-on activities, and on-the-spot clear-to-enroll support, with counselors spending time one-on-one
- Parents: provide a distinct experience that goes beyond cost and safety, with clarity around outcomes, support services, and scholarships
- Pre- and post-event playbook:
- Pre-event efforts should include targeted invitations, peer outreach, and transportation support
- Post-event follow-up should include timely thank-yous, counselor outreach, and tailored next steps for attendees and no-shows
- Digital support: update retargeting creative for admits, align landing pages with counselor conversations, and review accepted-student portal performance
Authentic experiences consistently outperform incentives alone.
4. Rally your campus
Yield is a team sport, with responsibility shared well beyond orientation. Stand up a short-term yield huddle with Admissions, Financial Aid, Advising, Housing, and academic leadership.
- Share updates and invite feedback
- Identify and remove causes of file holds
- Clarify how to resolve negative interactions quickly
Strong coordination across teams matters most when timing and personalization are critical.
5. Conduct an objective review
Time and resources are tight. Don’t let that block a clear assessment.
- Measure progress weekly so time does not work against you
- Publish a simple scoreboard
- Reinforce what is working
- Address what is underperforming without starting over
Remember: the admitted pool is largest right now. Moves you make today will have more impact than changes made in May through July.
Bottom line: Small, targeted adjustments made today can produce outsized gains in deposits tomorrow.
For most institutions, the fastest gains come from reallocating effort based on segment-level performance and tightening the admitted-student experience where barriers remain. Doing this well requires shared visibility into performance, ownership across teams, and tools that keep efforts connected.
Start now by picking two high-impact moves for this cycle and use what you learn to keep building a stronger system going forward.
