A CRM Upgrade Automates Enrollment Work
Case Study with a Large Community College
Ashgrove Community College (ACC),* which serves 20,000+ students in the eastern United States, receives about 12,000 applications each fall. ACC is focused on improving the path from application to enrollment and creating a coordinated, student-centered experience.
*Ashgrove Community College is a pseudonym
13
Percentage point increase in application-to-enrollment yield across three years
10%
Portion of staff time saved with Navigate360 automations—a half day each week
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Opportunity
Inconsistent processes and limited staff capacity, exacerbated by a wrong-fit CRM, led prospects to stall out before enrolling
ACC faced a critical enrollment challenge: Despite a high number of applicants, too few went on to enroll. Their prior enrollment CRM, which was not built for higher ed, didn’t meet their needs. Staff were bogged down by manual workflows, and users found data in the CRM unreliable, forcing them to operate on instinct rather than insight. Without a powerful CRM to support their efforts, ACC struggled with several barriers to hitting their enrollment goals:
- Enrollment practices varied across campuses, creating inconsistent experiences for prospects
- Prospective students lacked clear, step-by-step guidance and often stalled when trying to complete requirements
- Staff relied on manual outreach and processes that their prior CRM couldn’t automate, making it difficult to manage communications at scale
As a result, staff had limited visibility into prospects’ progress and insufficient tools to provide coordinated support throughout the enrollment process.
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Solution
Navigate360 saves staff time and helps ensure prospects receive the support they need to complete the enrollment process
Constrained by limited staff resources, ACC sought a CRM with automation and campaign capabilities that would allow staff to engage their applicant pool at scale. Ashgrove implemented EAB’s Navigate360 Enrollment CRM while also making comprehensive updates to their enrollment processes, focusing on clarity, coordination, and prospective student support.
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Impact
Application-to-enrollment yield is on the rise
Navigate360 significantly strengthened ACC’s capabilities compared to its prior CRM. Through strategic use of Navigate360, removal of enrollment barriers, and other process improvements, they achieved a 13-percentage-point increase in yield across three years.
