How a former engineer led College of Charleston to record enrollment

In my work, I meet many college presidents, but few have career paths as unique as Dr. Andrew Hsu’s. Dr. Hsu’s journey to becoming the President of the College of Charleston was anything but typical, having started his career as an aeronautical engineer. In a recent conversation, Dr. Hsu discussed how his engineering background informed his approach to higher education leadership, and how he guided his institution to record enrollment.

“In the university system, the engineer in me couldn’t help but see the inefficiencies…”

Sally Amoruso: I’d love to start by learning a bit about your journey with College of Charleston. What brought you to this institution and what were your initial goals as president?

Dr. Andrew Hsu: My journey to the presidency of the College of Charleston started when I left the private industry as an aeronautical engineer and entered academia full time. As a part-time adjunct faculty member, I fell in love with teaching and the ability to impact someone’s life in such a positive way through education. Once I was immersed in the university system, the engineer in me couldn’t help but see inefficiencies and areas that could be improved, so I went into academic leadership, serving in roles of progressive responsibility at colleges and universities across the country and in 2019, I joined the College of Charleston, which is the oldest institution of higher education in South Carolina and the 13^th oldest in the country.

Before I arrived, the College had experienced a slight decline in enrollment, which had a ripple effect across the campus. Because of this, my initial goal was fairly simple: implement a 10-year strategic plan to stabilize enrollments and elevate the brand.

“I asked my enrollment team, what can we do differently?”

SA: Well, since your arrival, College of Charleston has experienced some notable growth. What big bets did you make to achieve these gains in such a short amount of time?

Dr. Hsu: I asked my enrollment professionals, “what can we do differently?” At the time, our trustees were concerned that I was trying to use the same people to achieve different results, and my response was, “if the same people are doing different things, you can expect different results.” I asked my enrollment team to give me a list of things that we could do differently, and they came up with 11 things. I’ll share a few of those ideas with you.

Solidify application marketing strategy

First, we joined Common App. That’s a no brainer. Next, we found a marketing partner to help us market our product and expand our reach. That marketing partner is EAB, and you all have produced tremendous results for us.

Streamline student application process

We also made ourselves test-optional and streamlined our application requirements. For example, we used to have an essay requirement, but when we discussed it, we learned that the essay wasn’t really impacting our admission decision—so we removed that requirement.

Increase budget and financial aid

Additionally, we increased our budget and optimized our financial aid formula. We continue to adjust that. From last year to this year, we shifted from awarding top scholars recipients to those who were not receiving merit-based scholarships, and that helped increase our yield quite a bit.

Cross-campus engagement

Finally, we asked the entire campus to participate in this work. Enrollment is not just the task of the enrollment division. Every dean, every department chair, every faculty member must be involved. Doing things differently was the big bet—and the effort was worth it. If you look at the number of applications, we went from about 10,000-12,000 applications each of the past 10 years, to now this fall, 32,000 applications.

“It doesn’t matter how good a product you have if nobody knows about it.”

SA: I appreciate that you said it is possible to keep the same team and ask them to do things differently. What do you think makes a good enrollment professional? And what are the most important qualities that other presidents should be looking for?

Dr. Hsu: Before I joined academia, I worked in the private industry for 10 years. That mentality is what I use when I manage in higher education. Higher education is very much a business, whether you like it or not, and in any business, marketing and sales are some of the most important functions. If those teams are successful, then the entire business is successful. If those teams fail, the entire business will fail. It doesn’t matter how good a product you have if nobody knows about it.

So, the first thing that I look for in an enrollment professional is that marketing and sales mindset, as well as a customer service mindset. They must understand that we’re trying to entice customers into our business, and they must understand our niche and how to market our product.

The Role of VPEM as Change Leader

“Our out-of-state applications tripled over the last 4 years.”

SA: Can you also share a bit about how you appealed to out-of-state students?

AH: For us, it was just a matter of more targeted marketing. With EAB’s help, we identified more out-of-state markets that had high potential and started marketing to those students earlier in their high school career. We started reaching out to students as early as their sophomore year, which has produced tremendous results for us—our out-of-state applications tripled over the last four years.

How far are students willing to travel to college?

“The student experience has improved [and] we have seen our retention numbers increase.”

SA: All of this growth at College of Charleston must be exciting as you consider how it will impact future students. Has your growth enabled any exciting changes in terms of the student experience?

AH: Yes, we have invested heavily in academic success and student wellbeing, employing a wide range of strategies, from increasing the staff size of our counseling center to using an AI-enhanced chatbot to connect with students on a variety of topics. We’re implementing meta majors to improve academic advising and student belonging. The student experience has improved, and we know this because of retention. We have seen our retention numbers increase, meaning more students are making progress toward their academic goals.

Immediate and Future Implications of the New Artificial Intelligence

“A president needs to do three things.”

SA: Do you have any final pieces of advice for other presidents who are looking to achieve rapid growth in the coming years?

AH: I lean on the advice I received from President Gordon Gee when I served as his ACE Fellow during his tenure at The Ohio State University. He told me that a president needs to do three things:

1. Articulate a shared vision;
2. Develop a great team of leaders and empower them to do their jobs;
3. And be visible on campus to students, faculty, staff, and the community.

I have found those three points to be great guideposts in navigating this very challenging job. That being said, it is also one of the most fulfilling jobs I have ever had, and as a college president, you have the opportunity to make a very real and positive impact on both your institution and your students.