Student recruitment company boosts enrollment at UH Hilo

According to university administrators, one factor in the recent success in enrollment is EAB, a nationally recognized student recruitment company.

There have been a record number of applications and record highs in first-year student enrollment over the past two years at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo. The campus has stepped up student recruitment efforts as college enrollment is declining across the nation and the competition to attract students increases. According to university administrators, one factor in the recent success is EAB, a nationally recognized student recruitment company.

“Working with EAB has allowed us to benefit from the wide range of institutions they partner with,” says UH Hilo Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Farrah-Marie Gomes, who is responsible for student recruitment. “They are able to provide us with insights into the competitive market in ways that others are not. Since they are working with multiple campuses here in Hawaiʻi, they understand the unique challenges we face and have been able to recommend adjustments to better position ourselves to prospective students.”

Both UH Hilo and UH Mānoa are in year three of five-year contracts with EAB—$1.86 million for UH Hilo and $2.56 million for UH Mānoa. The company is credited with broadening scope and reach to prospective students and helping to engage prospective high school students, starting in their sophomore years. That engagement with students and their parents continues throughout high school, and their parents through multiple communication platforms including targeted marketing, social media, email, and traditional mail campaigns.

UH Hilo saw an increase of 8.7 percent in fall 2019 with a record 450 first-time freshmen. In addition, freshman applications increased by 129 percent from 1,814 in 2018 to 4,145 in 2019. UH Mānoa also saw noteworthy increases.

 

Full story at UH System News.