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If you follow our blogs or attend our webinars, you may have noticed that we're been doing a lot with artificial intelligence recently to drive value out of the student onboarding and student compliance processes.  I'll have to admit that until recently, my experience with AI had been driven by my data warehousing role at PeopleSoft in the 1990's. 

Here is how things have changed since then.

Yesterday, President Trump issued "Improving Education Outcomes by Empowering Parents, States, and Communities" which describes how the executive branch intends to move functions of the department of education elsewhere.  Many Financial Aid professionals still have PTSD as it relates to the rollout of the new FAFSA in 2023 (which contributed to a 9% decline in overall enrollment).  Are we on track for something similar in the next academic year?

With today's focus on compliance and government efficiency, we expect there to be a high level of scrutiny on financial aid processes and personnel costs at public higher education institutions.  As such, we have identified 4 efficiency initiatives that institutions can kick-off to be ready.

One of the impacts expected in the higher education industry as it relates to the Florida DOGE taskforce is a high level of scrutiny on any and all spending at public higher education institutions.  Anything that doesn't support DOGE goals will most likely get cut.

On February 24, 2025, Florida Governor, Ron Desantis, issued an executive order establishing a Florida version of the DOGE task force.  As this is the first DOGE initiative specifically focused on education institutions, and because Mutara works closely with several institutions that fall under it's purview, I thought I'd provide my analysis.

On Inauguration Day, Donald Trump signed an executive order titled "Protecting the meaning and value of American Citizenship."  This executive order focused on the issue of the meaning of birthright citizenship as described in the 14th Amendment.  In the future, complying with this policy would have significant impact on the processes of admitting all students at higher education institutions.

Welcome to 2025!  It's a new year with a new administration coming in the next few weeks.  The past several years have seen a dramatic series of changes (and challenges) in the higher education industry.  Here are our 5 predictions for the coming year.

Most enrollment leaders struggle with labor-intensive and error-prone qualification processes.  As the final installment of our residency and qualifications series, we will go into more detail on how our solution addresses these needs.

Determining residency is often the most intensive area where students need to be qualified.  In this article, we will discuss the specifics by which institutions must evaluate and prove in-state residency; and how this drives up admissions processing effort.

In our first article in this series, we described how central the qualification process is to an institutions’ ability to meet enrollment, productivity, and responsiveness goals.  We then provided an overview the general process and approaches.  In this article, we will discuss the systems involved in this process and how they may be limiting an institution’s success in this area.

In our first article in this series, we described how central the qualification process is to an institutions’ ability to meet enrollment, productivity, and responsiveness goals.  In this article, we will describe the key steps involved in this process as well as the overall approaches institutions take as they tackle this.

Over 80% of the processing effort for non-selective admissions is related to verifying and qualifying candidates.  This adds complexity to the admissions process for candidates, ties up admissions resources, and creates delays in the admissions / intake process.

Preventing fraud is a significant challenge for most higher education institutions.  In order for a bad actor to attempt student-related fraud, he/she must enter through the admissions process.  In this article, we will discuss the impact of fraud, the costs, and how good (or bad) processes can affect an institution's success in this area.

Yesterday, the National Student Clearinghouse published their 2023 fall enrollment report. For the first time since the pandemic, enrollment had increased at higher education institutions. However, this increase has come from a very nontraditional source.

The recent Supreme Court ruling banning the consideration of race in college admissions has sent shockwaves through the world of higher education. Institutions are now required to reevaluate their admissions policies and strategies. It is clear that the future of higher education admissions will be reshaped in four significant ways:

One of the more interesting aspects of working in the higher education space is the amount of change and innovation that has been occurring in recent years. Dual-enrollment programs is one of the more exciting ways that schools are re-thinking how they engage with students.

For institutions struggling with recruitment and enrollment, continuing education could be a pathway for colleges and universities in need of delivering value to prospective students and finding alternative streams of revenue. But to have a successful continuing education (CE) program, institutions must dedicate adequate resources and technology to those programs.

The Higher Education User Group's annual conference wrapped up this Wednesday. It was incredible to catch up with old friends, discuss challenges and trends faced by small and large institutions, and discuss how they are adapting to the changing world inherent in the industry. Here are some of my reactions and observations.

Now that Rose State College has been using Mutara's Application for Admission solution for several years, how are they doing? We compiled the statistics and are pleased to report impressive results from both the student enrollment and back office perspective.

As another fall recruitment cycle comes to a close, one can’t help but think about all of the challenges facing enrollment managers. From shifting demographics and changes in student mobility patterns to limited flexibility and agility in developing new and diverse educational opportunities to functioning with a heavy workload in a high-stress environment, it is not an easy time to be working in enrollment management. Mining through the mounting challenges, tasks, and meetings, the last thing enrollment leaders should be worried about is the application for admission and the technology associated with it.

Most institutions spend well upwards of $250,000 per year on digital advertising to recruit new students. Yet, most marketing and admissions leaders have no visibility into the effectiveness of those campaigns -- which prevents them from making key decisions affecting their success.

2 months ago (May, 2022), the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center put out a report about the recent drop in upward transfer enrollment. This is a significant issue for institutions who are already seeing drops in enrollment.

After participating virtually in 2021, it was refreshing to reconnect with old colleagues and make new connections at the 2022 FACRAO Annual Summit in Daytona Beach last week. 

You want to improve the enrollment numbers at your institution.  What's the best way to do this?  Industry best practice is to adopt a CRM for engaging with your prospective students, right?  Not so fast.  What you don't know could definitely hurt you.

It’s that time in the admissions cycle again - summer melt. As a former admissions counselor, I fully understand the anxiety, stress, and frustration that comes with this part of the admissions process. You have nurtured fantastic relationships and gained commitment from your candidate pool. You are riding high as the spring semester ends. Then, as it happens with every admissions cycle, commitments start getting softer, and your candidate pool starts to shrink. 

This past April many community colleges across the county joined in celebrating Community College Month (#ccmonth). The Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) coordinated a grassroots campaign to “increase awareness and understanding of the value of community colleges both locally and nationally.”  As we followed the celebration around the country, we wanted to share some highlights and takeaways from the great work these two-year institutions are doing.

Diversity and Inclusion.  Whether your institution's goal is to attract new students to offer new experiences and world views or expand enrollment numbers, moving the needle can be a challenge.  Fortunately, there is one thing you can do to engage these candidates and achieve your diversity goals. 

What do OKTA, Veeva, and the company that would eventually become Workday have in common?

If you were to say that founding members of each of these $20+ billion dollar companies all worked for Baer Tierkel at PeopleSoft, you would be right. I was fortunate to be part of this team, the AKTT (Ass-Kicking-Tools-Team), where I also met Brian Sparling and Chris Heller who both co-founded companies with me. 

After two years of being virtual, it was great to reconnect with HEUG colleagues in-person at Alliance.

Stealth applicants have always been a challenge for institutions. However, the pandemic amplified those challenges as institutions had to adapt processes, like going test-optional, and college fair and campus visit opportunities were limited due to pandemic-related restrictions and safety concerns. Although pandemic-related restrictions are being lifted, allowing more open on- and off-campus events, many institutions are not changing their test-optional policies.  

This year's Alliance 2022 marks the 25th year of this Higher Education / Public Sector conference. As a former PeopleSoft employee, I am proud to have presented at the very first one -- and have participated in almost all of them since.

Spending nearly a decade as an enrollment management professional until recently, I experienced the challenge that the impending traditional enrollment cliff presents for universities and colleges. I was often faced trying to find solutions to the same recurring questions: 

It’s a wrap. We just finished our first event of 2022 – the SACRAO conference in Little Rock, AR. 

We are looking for the head of development for our low code development platform.  The ideal candidate is hands-on, understands the value of well designed software, and has a passion for solving difficult problems. We use Design Thinking to leverage our flexible software to solve a wide range of problems. The ideal candidate should have an excellent background in application services as well as UI frameworks such as Angular.

Is your institution having challenges reaching your enrollment goals for certain groups of students?  Perhaps you have initiatives for online curriculum or competency-based education that are not getting traction. Your institution’s culture could be setting you up to fail and you may not even be aware of it. 

Implementing your first Competency-based Education (CBE) program could be daunting.  This article, the second in this series, describes how this effort touches every part of an institution, why, and key considerations.

Over the past several months, we've talked with a number of institutions about their plans to implement competency-based education (CBE), and how these plans will reduce barriers, reach new students, and improve student success.

People who've spent time recently on high school or college campuses will notice that students spend a considerable amount of time in the digital world on mobile devices. Students use them to get information, communicate, complete tasks, and are notified of important (or interesting) things.

Are you using QR codes in your admissions?  If not, you should -- as they can supercharge engagement with your candidates. They're easy to use. They work well with mobile devices. And; one can get started without navigating the internet or typing a web address. 

"We don't have the budget to implement anything new for our admissions"

We've heard this from a number of institutions who are struggling with declining enrollment. In...

Last week Mechelle Aitson-Roessler, AVP of Enrollment Management and Registrar at Rose State College (RSC), presented her institution's journey to addressing their admissions challenges.

In our prior blog entry, we mapped out the journey that candidates follow from an unknown person to a student.  We also described that inbound marketing focuses on optimizing each of the transition points so that more people successfully navigate that journey.

This article will now discuss how to engage the candidate, which is the mechanism by which you move a candidate from one stage to the next in the admissions journey.

Lead.  Yield.  Call it what you will.  Attracting candidates is important to every university.  Most organizations are looking for ways to improve admissions results.  Whether you’re trying to improve enrollment for the institution as a whole or for specific groups of students, it all starts with leads or yield.

If you work in the higher education industry, you probably don't need a report to tell you that 2020 was a challenge for colleges and universities.  However, the most recent report put together by the National Student Clearinghouse (link here) gives insight into how COVID has affected enrollment in each type of school and demographic -- and it's not all doom and gloom.

We are pleased to announce that following a short 5 month implementation, Rose State College deployed Mutara's Admissions Candidate Application SaaS product on February 3, 2020.  

Today, Business Insider had an opinion piece about Google's Career Certificates program, which allows non-degree learning to help people (especially people in IT) gain critical skills that can help them advance their careers.  In our blog, we've previously discussed how the higher education market is has recognized the opportunity growth of lifetime learning and the nontraditional student.  

Virtual Alliance 2020 is in the books.  Over the course of the week, we learned how to attend sessions from our homes, got to see where friends and colleagues worked, and was photobombed by toddlers and pets.  As expected, the overall theme was COVID-19 and how institutions are coping and planning.

This afternoon, CSU Chancellor Timothy P. White announced that with limited exceptions, virtual-only learning will continue through the fall term.  This means that close to 500,000 students won't be returning to campus until 2021 at the earliest.  However, that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Last week, one of our customers shared an article with us that (1) describes their biggest pain point, (2) how that pain is translated into different areas of friction, and (3) how they see Mutara's products helping them.  

As the discussion about re-opening businesses gets underway, one of the most challenging areas to consider is re-opening our campuses.  How do you balance public health with the realities of campus life?  Where do you start as you develop these plans?

Higher Ed institutions are implementing study at home programs to cope with the coronavirus. This is a culture change for both parents and students. How do you set expectations appropriately?

"May you live in interesting times"

This (purported) Chinese curse seems appropriate to the impact of coronavirus.  

"Please select the type of student you are"

This was the very first question asked in the online application of an institution we met with this week.  It was followed by 11 choices from which a candidate was expected to choose.

In our prior bog entry, we defined the nontraditional student and described the impact they will have on the Higher Education Industry going forward.  Now that you’re ready to increase enrollment through this demographic.  How do you do it?

It’s a new year and new decade.  What are the trends and outlook in Higher Education?  Are today’s institutions prepared?

Thank you for all of you who attended this week's webinar:  Optimizing your Admissions.

It’s a Saturday morning and I’m having coffee with a few friends.  As I sip on my cappuccino, I hear about the most tender and juicy ribeye in history; and how it was prepared.  My interest is peaked.  What would it take for me to make perfect steaks? 

Ever since I wrote about how the online application could be hurting your ability to innovate, I’ve had many discussions with institutions discussing ways they've increased their candidate pool and engagement throughout the applicant journey – and how this has a direct impact on their admissions results.

Now that the fall HEUG regional season is winding down, I thought I’d put together some observations from the two most recent events in which we participated.

Thank you for all of you who attended this week's webinar:  Optimizing your Admissions

Over the past couple of years, the Higher Education industry has gone through an unprecedented level of innovation. Technology, competition, and market expectations have collided to create this perfect storm. 

Strategies (and a demo) for meeting your admissions goals and improving results easier AND more efficiently than ever before

SCHRUG 2019 is a wrap.  It was great meeting with old friends and new at the Davidson-Gundy Alumni center.  We also unveiled an early version of our Admissions product. 

It’s a wrap. We just finished our first event – the Higher Education User Group annual Alliance conference.  As a new company, we had modest expectations in terms of exposure and feedback – and we were blown away by how far we exceeded them. 

This morning, the justice department charged more than 30 people for fraudulently helping their kids get into a who’s who of higher education institutions.

Many of my best friends know that I really enjoy action movies (and TV shows) – especially Superhero and Science Fiction genres. 

Star Wars?  Of course!  Incredibles?  Definitely!  Game of Thrones?  Absolutely!  Deadpool and Logan?  Hell Yes!

When NASA declared earlier this month that the Mars Opportunity Rover was no longer working, it hit home to me – especially since its accomplishments realize what I strive to deliver with the products I’m a part of.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SAN RAMON, Calif., February 5, 2019 – Today, GreyHeller (now Appsian) founders Larry Grey and Brian Sparling announced the formation of Mutara Inc. to address two of the biggest challenges facing colleges and universities: 

In 2005 -- following Oracle’s successful acquisition of PeopleSoft -- my colleagues (Brian Sparling, Chris Heller) and I were feeling disillusioned with our careers and the direction we saw the enterprise software space going. With little more than a vague concept of what we felt customers needed and a feeling that we could build something that could fill that need, we started the company that is now Appsian.

It’s not an easy question to answer. There are many factors involved in making sound admissions decisions. It’s crucially important to get it right because it affects every aspect of the institution. 

Business Transformation without Chaos 

Why does an organization adopt a new software product?  For most, it’s to transform its business in positive ways to maximize business value.  This means disrupting the status quo for something that’s better.  Unfortunately, disruption usually brings chaos with it.