“We would love to hire an outside agency to help with enrollment marketing, but we just can’t afford it.” — Nearly every enrollment leader, at some point
I hear this often, and I understand it. In truth, I’m probably guilty of making similar comments during my time as an enrollment manager. Budgets are tight. Teams are stretched. Every new investment feels risky.
Instead of debating this emotionally, let’s step back and look at the question the same way institutions evaluate every other major decision: through the numbers.
The One Formula That Matters
No matter the size or type of institution, the financial case for an enrollment marketing partnership comes down to one simple equation:
(Net tuition per student × additional enrolled students) – cost of partnership = net revenue gain
Let’s see what that looks like at two common enrollment scales.
| Metric | Entering Class: ~550 Students | Entering Class: ~4,500 Students |
| Baseline entering class size | 550 | 4,500 |
| Avg. net tuition revenue per student | $16,500 | $7,500 |
| Enrollment lift (11%) * | +61 students | +495 students |
| Additional net tuition revenue | $1,006,500 | $37,462,500 |
| Sample annual partnership investment | $300,000 | $1,250,000 |
| Net revenue gain (Year One) | $706,500 | $36,212,500 |
* The typical AccessU partner school sees between a 7% and 16% increase in new student enrollment in year one.
The Pattern Is the Point
These examples differ in scale, but the takeaway is the same:
In both cases, the partnership:
- Pays for itself many times over
- Offsets a substantial portion of the total cost of recruiting the class
- Generates net new revenue in year one
And this doesn’t account for the less visible, but very real, benefits:
- Expanded capacity for already-overloaded campus teams
- Faster execution and optimization
- Deeper analytics and performance insight
- Strategic clarity instead of constant triage
A Quick Reality Check on Internal Capacity
Most institutions ask small marketing and communications teams to cover:
- Recruitment marketing
- Institutional branding
- Public relations
- Crisis communications
- Advancement and alumni campaigns
- Often, athletics marketing as well
An enrollment marketing partnership doesn’t replace that team. It gives them leverage in the form of access to specialized expertise without adding permanent headcount.
Can You Afford a Partnership?
When viewed through the right lens, the upfront cost of an enrollment marketing partnership isn’t an expense. It’s a revenue strategy much like adding a new academic program or athletic team.
Which reframes the real question from:
“How can we afford to partner with an agency?”
to:
Can you afford not to partner with an agency?