Landing on an Aircraft Carrier
“I had more control over things as a fighter pilot.” That’s what a colleague said to me recently—and he wasn’t kidding. Before coming to enrollment management, he flew combat aircraft […]
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What I Learned Since We Last Spoke
Last month, I presented a plenary session to the Board of Trustees at Centre College. That may not sound unusual — except that Centre is where I served as Vice […]
Read moreOpening Comments for CIC National Career Center Design Thinking Workshop – Chicago – March 5, 2026
I have had a wonderful career in college enrollment, mostly as a Vice President for Enrollment and Dean of Admission at four CIC member institutions — at Furman, Centre, Rhodes, […]
Read moreYield is Brand
Why the work of enrolling a class begins the moment a student first hears your name There is a moment when a student first has a real connection with your […]
Read moreThe End of Grad PLUS: What It Might Mean for Liberal Arts Colleges
For decades, Graduate PLUS loans functioned as higher education’s hidden enrollment tool. When a student was accepted to law school, business school, or a master’s program and tuition exceeded what […]
Read moreThe New Federal Student Loan Framework – Are You Paying Attention?
If you work in higher education enrollment, you’ve heard about the July 1, 2026, implementation of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) regarding federal student and PLUS loans. But […]
Read moreCareer Outcomes: The Enrollment Asset We Need
I once ran a report that indicated that we sent 17 million emails during a student recruitment year-long cycle. Seventeen million personalized messages, carefully timed drip campaigns, sophisticated segmentation strategies. […]
Read moreGeneration Alpha is Almost Here
A few years ago, I attended a conference where a demographer presented enrollment projections for the next decade. The data was sobering, but one slide especially caught my attention: Generation […]
Read moreThe New Playbook
Private colleges and universities face unprecedented challenges. The demographic cliff isn’t coming; it’s here. Public skepticism about higher education’s value is real. The business model seems broken. Competition for students […]
Read moreStrategic Board Oversight
The enrollment report arrives in board packets or posts on BoardEffect. Applications, deposits, class size, discount rate. Trustees review numbers, ask clarifying questions, move forward. The assumption holds: enrollment is […]
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