This episode of the InspirED SparkCast discusses the 2022 Independent School Cost-Per-Enrollment Study produced jointly by the Enrollment Management Association (EMA), the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), and National Business Officers Association (NBOA) to make informed decisions around funding and support for enrollment efforts.

[Links above lead to the study. Your school must be a member of one of the organizations to be eligible for download.]

This is the Executive Summary on the NAIS website.

Among the independent schools that participated in this research, enrollment costs were as follows:

• The median cost-per-enrollment (CPE) was $3,677

• The median cost-per-inquiry (CPI) was $697

• The median ROI was $7 in tuition for each dollar spent to enroll a new student in their first year

Enrollment costs varied significantly across school demographics. The largest schools (those with 700+ students) had the lowest CPE of all school groups—and saw the highest return on their investment ($8.60 in tuition for each dollar spent on enrollment management in the first year of tuition). Elementary schools had the smallest cost per enrollment ($2,869 per enrollee vs. the median $3,677 per enrollee.) The median CPE for secondary schools was $5,844.

The full report contains additional data on enrollment costs sorted by school type (day/boarding), size, region, and grade levels served.

Kevin MacNeil

Kevin is the CAO and Partner of Metric Marketing. Kevin has worked with more than a hundred independent schools across North America. Exposed to nearly a decade of admissions marketing campaigns, he prides himself on helping schools make decisions based on data. He is a practiced teacher of marketing and advertising, including work with NAIS, NYSAIS, EMA, AISAP, InspirED, ISSL, CAIS.

Metric Marketing started as a web development/tech company in 1999, and Kevin joined them in 2008. During that time, the company began to transform into a digital advertising agency and then a full-service agency. In 2013, Metric started working with private schools, and by 2019, they were working with schools across North America. Kevin realized his and Metric’s passion was to help schools grow.

Deb Baum is the Senior Director of Communications and Strategic Institutional Marketing at The Bryn Mawr School, an all-girls PK-12 school in Baltimore, Maryland. Deb previously worked in communications and media relations roles at Gilman School, The Rhode Island Foundation, and Brown University. Deb also has a background in journalism, having spent three years as a news writer for WBZ-TV in Boston as well as serving on the staff of 60 Minutes II and The Early Show in New York City.

Deb enters the Five Year Club in 2024 as a Brilliance Awards judge.

Jan Abernathy

Jan Abernathy is the Chief Communications Officer at The Browning School and a member of the CASE Commission on Marketing and Communications and on the faculty of the CASE Academy. She was previously the Director of Marketing and Communications for the Elisabeth Morrow School and is the president of the New York City Independent Schools Communications Professionals group as well as a co-founder of the Black Advancement Network. Jan is a trustee of Grace Church School and Tessa International School.

This is Jan’s third year as a Brilliance Awards judge.