Shimer College: A Tool for Improving Enrollment

HEMS is assisting Shimer College in Waukegan (Lake County), Illinois, in targeting and analyzing prospective students using the latest Census 2000 demographics. HEMS matches college data files of prospects and of actual enrollees against a file of recent PSAT-taking students obtained from the College Board, and uses modeling techniques to identify the best prospects for the College. We then enter the list of prospect addresses into a geographic information system (GIS) mapping software program to produce maps showing college leaders where their best prospects are located at the street level.

This methodology enables us to deliver to each client institution a targeted set of best prospects, derived from a larger set of students who have taken PSAT tests, who are more likely to enroll at that institution than the other students in the master file of PSAT test-taking students. The result: improved geographic targeting, increased market penetration and yield rates, and more cost-efficient student recruiting.

To see examples of the targeting and analyzing follow the links below:

• http://proximityone.com/shimer.htm
• http://proximityone.com/sa2004.htm

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