I believe that strategic enrollment management has become a major force in the university and practice of higher education. With limited financial resources for financial aid, institutions must balance the need to attract and admit a freshman class that fits well with the institution and also provide the necessary financial support to allow for diversity in student body.

Strategic enrollment management is a comprehensive approach to integrating all of the University’s programs, practices, policies, and planning related to achieving the optimal recruitment, retention, and graduation of students with “optimal” defined by the mission, academic vision, and strategic plan of the institution. Enrollment management becomes Strategic Enrollment Management when it actively integrates planning, strategies and structures in the formal enrollment management units with the institution’s evolving strategic planning, its academic vision and its fundamental mission. Strategic enrollment management does not ignore short‐term activities. Instead, it integrates short‐term administrative efforts with long‐term planning processes. These administrative efforts include a focus on management of those functional areas responsible for achieving enrollment goals.