How to measure student acquisition from enquiry to enrolment
Education acquisition should track the full journey: interest, valid enquiry, qualification, admission and enrolment. Cost per form submission only describes the first stage.
For marketing, admissions and programme leaders at universities, schools and higher-education providers.
Agree what a qualified enquiry means
Define programme fit, expressed interest, intake and contactability. Distinguish duplicates, invalid enquiries, interested people and applicants who meet the agreed requirements.
Marketing and admissions should use the same stages. Document who updates each status and when feedback is available to optimise campaigns and content. Use aggregated information in marketing reports.
Measure by programme and intake
Separate spend, qualified enquiries, applications, admissions and enrolments for each programme. Decision times vary; comparing a closed intake with one that has just opened can produce misleading conclusions.
Cost per enrolment relates defined costs to enrolments in a comparable cohort. State whether it includes media only or also agency and production costs. Review withdrawals where relevant, without counting the same person twice in a total student count.
Connect the proposal with admissions
The agency needs to understand the calendar, entry requirements, places, academic offering and sales resources. Each programme page should answer real questions about format, time commitment, entry and admissions.
Request a joined-up plan covering SEO/GEO, campaigns, conversion pages and follow-up. Agree response times, responsibilities and priority criteria. If enquiries grow but enrolments do not, review fit, information and follow-up before increasing spend.
Questions for comparing proposals
| Question | Evidence to request |
|---|---|
| How is a qualified lead defined? | Criteria shared by marketing and admissions, with recorded rejection reasons. |
| What is tracked through to enrolment? | Stages, sources, cohorts, duplicates and CRM responsibilities. |
| How does the plan fit each programme? | Itemised objectives, calendar, audiences and budget. |
| Which experience can be verified? | An identifiable education case and an explanation of its published metric. |
An example to interpret the metric
Hypothetical example: €6,000 in media, 120 valid enquiries and 20 enrolments from the same cohort mean €50 per enquiry and €300 in media per enrolment. These are not full costs: management, production and other agreed items are excluded. A cheap enquiry can become expensive when few people enrol.
What to prepare for a diagnostic
- Programmes, intakes, places and entry requirements.
- A shared qualified-enquiry definition and admissions stages.
- Aggregated cohort and acquisition-source data.
- Follow-up owners, calendar and available budget.
Let’s define what your project needs
Tell us about your context, objectives and resources. We will review the fit and agree the diagnostic scope: starting point, priorities and a work proposal with responsibilities and measurement.
Request a sector diagnosticView services for this sector