As an education technology consultant at Education Brands, my mission is to help private and independent schools optimize their admissions and enrollment processes through our solutions. Seeing how technology positively impacts students, families, and educators fuels my passion for this work.
This year, I had the privilege of attending the Enrollment Management Leadership Council (EMLC) 2024 in Washington, DC, hosted by our partners at the Enrollment Management Association (EMA), This is part of a greater series of regional seminars to connect school admissions professionals to network, learn, and share best practices.
I was particularly excited about EMLC 2024, as Education Brands was a proud partner and Diamond-level cosponsor of several key events, including the welcome reception, keynote address, and awards ceremony. Let’s dive into some of my favorite highlights and takeaways from the Washington, DC conference!
What I Learned at EMLC 2024
A highlight of the conference was visiting Sidwell Friends School, one of the nation’s most prestigious independent schools. This provided an excellent backdrop for breakout sessions on various admissions-related topics, where experts shared valuable insights. Here are some of the sessions that stood out to me:
- Systemizing and Documenting the Admissions Process: This session emphasized creating a streamlined and consistent workflow for managing applications, interviews, decisions, and enrollment contracts.
- Financial Retention: Here, we explored strategies for using financial aid and tuition assistance to support and retain enrolled students, particularly those from underrepresented and low-income backgrounds.
- Fulfilling Strategic Enrollment Goals Using Psychographics and Other Demographics: This session focused on using data and analytics to segment and target potential applicants, aligning them with the school’s mission and culture.
- Best Practices for Working with Athletic Departments: There was a breakout session to discuss ways to collaborate with coaches and athletic directors to recruit and enroll student athletes.
- Most Effective Admission Events: This session offered insights on designing and hosting engaging events for prospective students and families, such as open houses, shadow days, and webinars.
Applying Learnings to the Schools We Serve
Post-conference, I was eager to apply these new insights to my work. Sharing best practices and strategies with my clients and colleagues allows us to enhance admissions and enrollment outcomes. It was fascinating to see how a school can implement a tracking system for their admissions process, significantly improving efficiency and accuracy. Another school shared how they benefited from using psychographics to segment and target prospective families, resulting in higher acceptance rates by students who were offered admission. The feedback and questions from schools during the conference also provided insights into their unique needs and challenges, equipping me with countless ideas to refine our solutions and services to better serve them.
Education Brands with the EMLC team at the New York Seminar.
Why I Recommend EMLC to School Admissions and Enrollment Leaders
Attending EMLC 2024 was an incredible experience that I highly recommend to anyone in school admissions. It’s a unique opportunity to connect with leaders from diverse backgrounds, share successes and challenges, and learn from each other. It was also a chance to highlight our partnership with EMA and our shared commitment to supporting K-12 education. EMA, as the leading organization for enrollment management professionals, offers invaluable resources such as the SSAT, the Character Skills Snapshot, the Standard Application Online (which integrates with Ravenna ), and the EMA Data and Analysis for School Leadership.
We are honored to partner with EMA and are excited to continue our collaboration and innovation. I look forward to EMA’s Annual Conference in Boston this September and hope to see you there!
