Checking off the Enrollment Experience
Too often, students who want to transfer college credits to a new institution face overly opaque and complex enrollment processes. When applicants encounter a lack of personalized guidance, unclear (or sometimes even conflicting) information, or unintended administrative roadblocks, it can discourage even the most motivated students from following through on their transfer plans.
In partnership with Fresno State University, a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI), ideas42 set out to improve the enrollment experience for transfer students. Our work focused on making enrollment as clear and easy as possible for incoming transfer students.
Our Approach
ideas42 and Fresno State redesigned Fresno State's Transfer Enrollment Checklist and associated enrollment communications. We aimed to streamline the enrollment process and provide clear and comprehensive guidance to enrolling students. Our new checklist and communications included actionable enrollment instructions, deadlines, and contact information so students knew where to go if they had questions.
To make sure students viewed the revised checklist and took action, we highlighted it in enrollment emails. Our emails were designed to leverage key behavioral principles to increase engagement:
Link to the checklist: We made it easy for students to access the checklist right away, increasing their likelihood of seeing and using it.
Step-by-step guidance on immediate next steps: We provided clear instructions to help students focus on what needed to be done right now.
Salient deadlines: We highlighted important deadlines to create a sense of urgency, all while helping students prioritize their next steps.
Consistent messenger: We sent communications from one messenger to reduce redundancy and confusion that students typically experience when communications come from various departments and people.
The Results
When we piloted these interventions in Fall 2024, we found that prospective students who saw the enrollment checklist had a significantly more positive enrollment experience.
Students who saw the revised enrollment checklist found it significantly easier to complete key steps, such as submitting transcripts, setting up their student portal, and understanding which transfer credits were accepted.
They also rated other steps, such as registering and paying for orientation, verifying residency, and completing financial aid, as easier (although the difference was not statistically significant).
Finally, our findings indicated students who saw the checklist reported finding it significantly easier to contact Fresno for help. At the same time, students who saw the checklist—particularly adult students—reported being less likely to need help with the enrollment process.
These results show that behavioral interventions designed with the student experience in mind can meaningfully improve the enrollment process. And, the potential impact is likely even greater than the results we measured: since the checklist was publicly available to anyone who looked, it's likely that we've underestimated the true impact of this approach.
What students say…
“It was reassuring to receive frequent emails about deadlines and how to reach out if we had any questions about the enrollment process.”
“I like the enrollment checklist… It was very clear what the steps were to accept the admission offer, what the next steps are, and how to contact [Fresno] state in case I had any questions.”
Want to try this at your school?
Access guidance and templates to build your own dynamic, personalized, actionable enrollment road map to help students complete the necessary steps to make it to Day One of classes.
Email us at education@ideas42.org with any questions or to learn more.