Transition from an OPM Model While Growing Enrollment

The Need for Greater Flexibility and Collaboration

A historic institution nestled in St. Charles, Missouri, traces its origins back to 1827. Dedicated to its mission of transforming lives through the power of education, the university offers a broad spectrum of programs for undergraduate, graduate, and online students. With its low student-tofaculty ratio, the university emphasizes individualized learning and academic excellence. The university entered a long-term agreement with an OPM provider to help lift enrollments and develop an online presence. In 2022, the university began the process of transitioning away from a OPM model to one that provided greater flexibility and a more collaborative partnership approach.

“ The university saw its first year of growth since 2014. A huge testament to the collective efforts of the EDDY and university team.“

Morgan Gonzalez

VP of Account Management, EducationDynamics

The Challenge

The university’s OPM provider maintained complete control over online program enrollments and marketing, and provided almost no visibility into marketing and enrollment management performance. This resulted in a mission misalignment and failed to meet the needs of its students.

As the school evaluated its challenges, leadership recognized the need for a collaborative partner with the experience and resources to provide the right solutions and support their internal capabilities and opportunities. The university sought to regain control of its enrollment management strategies and and gain transparency into its marketing performance.

The Objective

• Develop a transition plan that outlines the steps to move away from their previous OPM provider.
• Implement marketing campaigns targeted to the university’s ideal students without any prior marketing campaign history.
• Provide the university with access to data and analytics to track the performance of its marketing campaigns and enrollment strategies.
• Increase enrollment in its online programs.
• Provide support to the University’s new internal teams.

The Solution

EducationDynamics and the university worked collaboratively to identify needs and opportunities, culminating in the development of a comprehensive transition plan that included budgets, timelines, and resource allocation plans. Moreover, an effective communication agreement was developed between the teams and with stakeholders to ensure a smooth transition process.

Once the transition plan was established, EDDY’s marketing team implemented campaigns targeted to the university’s ideal students. These campaigns utilized diverse channels, including search engines, social media, and email marketing. This multi-channel approach allowed the school to reach a larger pool of potential students and effectively promote its unique value proposition.

EDDY further supported school’s growth by offering tailored consulting and training resources to recruit a dedicated enrollment management and student success team through The U School, EDDY’s online staff training platform. The newly formed team was equipped with a personalized strategic enrollment plan that defined the university’s key focus areas to positively impact enrollment, optimize marketing, and most-importantly, improve the overall student experience.

Furthermore, EducationDynamics granted the university access to comprehensive data and analytics, enabling the monitoring of marketing and enrollment strategies. This invaluable information empowered the university to make informed decisions to enhance its outcomes progressively.

The Results