What is a Good Yield Rate for Colleges & How Are the Best Improving it?

Yield rates at colleges in North America vary incredibly widely, but it is one of (if not the most) important metrics for admissions and recruitment teams to track. 

Yield rate – the percentage of admitted students who go on to enroll in a school – is often held up as a sign of a school’s attractiveness and reputation. If high, it can indicate students are keen to join the school once they receive an offer. On the other hand, a low yield rate can suggest that the school may not be so attractive. 

In this blog, we will reveal some college yield rates and ask the all-important question – what is a good yield rate for colleges? We will also explore how colleges are improving yield rates as competition toughens. 

But before we begin, let’s understand why yield rates are so important to the success of any higher education institution. 

Why is yield rate so important for colleges & universities? 

If you work in admissions or recruitment, you’ll no doubt be talking about yield rates all-day long. However, it’s good to remind yourself just why yield is so important for your school before we dig into the question of what a good yield rate for colleges is. 

– Financial stability 

Yield rate impacts the financial stability of an institution because a higher yield rate shows that a greater proportion of admitted students are enrolling, which translates into a more stable and predictable revenue stream from the associated tuition and fees. 

– Reputation & selectivity 

A high yield is more often than not an indication of an institution’s prestige and attractiveness. Schools with a high yield rate are perceived as desirable and competitive, enhancing their reputation. This can then help them attract more qualified applicants in the future. 

– Rankings 

College and university rankings are calculated by a host of factors, one of which is yield. A high yield can suggest high desirability and competition, which in turn can improve a school’s standing in national and international rankings. 

– Financial aid & scholarships 

Yield rates can affect the level of financial aid that a school has to offer to attract students. When a school has a low yield rate, the institution may be forced to provide more competitive financial support to encourage admitted students to accept offers of admissions.  

What is a good yield rate for colleges? 

Yield rate differs widely between schools, sectors, regions, and even programs – so it can be difficult to determine what a good yield rate for a college is. Yield rates can range from less than 10%, all the way up to over 90%. The latter is typically attributed to highly selective and prestigious schools such as Ivy League schools and other highly ranked institutions which have low acceptance rates and high yield rates.

In NACAC’s most recent State of College Admission report, the average yield rate in the U.S. for first-time freshmen was just 33.6%.  

To help you understand what a good yield rate for your college is, here are the latest admit rates and yield rates from a range of colleges and universities across the U.S. 

How are colleges improving yield rates? 

A host of factors come into play to determine college yield rates. In some cases, these factors are outside of Admission’s control, such as location, programs and affordability. However, there are many strategies that Admissions can deploy to improve yield at their school. Here are a few of the top ways that colleges are improving yield rates to ensure a strong incoming class each year.

1. Cultivate relationships 

To help encourage more students to enroll, you need to cultivate strong relationships with admitted students. Holding engaging campus tours, information sessions, and overnight stays for and are all great ways to connect with admitted students and give them a first-hand experience of campus life. 

You could also assign admissions counselors or faculty members as personal points of contact for admitted students. These staff members can then be responsible for ongoing communication to answer questions, provide guidance, and demonstrate the school’s commitment to supporting their academic and personal success. This is easy to set up with Comm100 Live Chat’s routing features. Each time the same student reaches out on live chat, the conversation can be automatically directed to a specific agent. 

2. Provide convenient, always-on support 

To most colleges with limited budgets, the idea of providing 24/7 support is completely unfeasible. However, with a chatbot, it becomes totally achievable. 

An AI chatbot such as Comm100’s can be set up to provide students with instant, around-the-clock support whenever they have a question. With the latest in generative AI, this bot can resolve up to 80% of all queries without any human support. If and when human support is needed, the student can simply enter their email address and message to be replied to when the team is back online. This immediately gives schools more opportunities to stay connected with students and discourages ‘summer melt’. 

Chatbots aren’t just for out of hours support though. When used during office hours, chatbots dramatically reduce the support volume for agents. As a result, these agents have more time to handle less questions, allowing them to put more care and attention into each conversation to make admitted students feel even more valued. 

3. Deliver personalized communication 

It’s vital that you treat every student as an individual, and the best way to do this is with personalized support. With Comm100’s higher education messaging platform, integral data systems like CRMs can be integrated with every communication channel. By doing so, agents have a wealth of information about every student they speak to, empowering them to provide personalized and helpful support. 

Comm100 Live Chat also offers a range of tools that help foster personalized communication. As the name suggests, Auto Chat Translation automatically translates the student’s text and back again so they can feel comfortable speaking in their mother tongue. Agents can also use voice and video chat embedded with Comm100 Live Chat to develop stronger connections with students. 

Wrap up 

If you’d like to learn more about how Comm100 can help your Admissions team increase yield like Thompson Rivers University, Cambrian College and Queen’s University, learn more here.