Resources
Admissions and enrollment glossary for higher education
Plain definitions of the terms college and university admissions, enrollment marketing and IT teams use every day, from first inquiry to enrolled student. Each entry explains the idea with a higher-ed example and shows where it fits in the daily work of an admissions office. New to the software side? Start with what an admissions CRM is.
By the higheredcrm.ai product teamReviewed
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A
Application abandonment
Application abandonment is when a prospective student starts an application but stops before submitting it, often at a document, fee or essay step.
Attribution
Attribution traces each enrolled student back to the campaigns, events and channels behind their inquiry, so a university can credit its recruitment work.
C
Chatbot
A higher education chatbot is a scripted conversation on an admissions website, WhatsApp or Messenger that answers routine questions and collects details.
Conversion rate
Conversion rate is the percentage of students at one enrollment stage who move on to the following one, such as inquiries who apply or admits who pay a deposit.
Cost per enrollment
Cost per enrollment divides what a university spends to recruit a class by the students who actually enroll, often split by program, channel or territory.
Counselor capacity
Counselor capacity is how many active inquiries and applicants one admissions counselor can handle well at once, used to balance caseloads and plan staffing.
CRM vs SIS
A CRM manages prospective students before they enroll; an SIS manages enrolled students' academic records. Many institutions run both and link the two.
F
FERPA
FERPA is the US federal privacy law for student education records; for college admissions offices, the key question is when an applicant's file falls under it.
Funnel stage
A funnel stage is a defined step in the enrollment journey, such as prospect, inquiry, applicant, admitted, deposited or enrolled, used to track progress.
L
Lead routing
Lead routing hands each new university inquiry to a counselor automatically, by territory, source, program level or workload, as soon as it arrives.
Lead scoring
Lead scoring ranks prospective students with transparent point rules for fit and engagement, so admissions counselors know which applicants to call first.
S
Segment
A segment is a named group of prospective students, such as admits without a deposit or graduate inquiries from one fair, chosen for a targeted message.
Speed-to-lead
Speed-to-lead is how long a new university inquiry waits for its first useful reply, measured from the form, message or missed call to a counselor's answer.
Summer melt
Summer melt is when admitted students who committed, often with a deposit, don't arrive when classes begin: the loss between deposit and the first day of term.
W
WhatsApp Business Platform
The WhatsApp Business Platform is Meta's API for organizations, so a university can message applicants from shared software using approved templates.
Workflow automation
Workflow automation lets a university admissions office run routine steps, such as reminders, counselor assignment and stage updates, from triggers and rules.
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