What Student Enrollment Decisions Say About Melt, Retention Risk, and the Next Recruiting Cycle

This year’s undergraduate recruiting cycle is finally coming to a grinding, inexorable, and excruciating end. The whole affair has been a never-ending season of uncertainty for students and institutions alike. Even though students have placed their deposits to signal an enrollment decision, the year and the path ahead is still uncertain as they approach their freshman experience. It is equally uncertain for institutions as they begin recruiting the class of 2021.

This report takes a look at comparative data from Eduventures Survey of Admitted Students in 2019 and in 2020 in order to examine the real effects of COVID-19 on enrollment patterns. What has really changed in the decision behavior of students in key segments?