Scholarship OfficeBenchmarking Presentation May 18, 2010

Benchmarking Goals

• Determine ways to remain competitive

• Leverage resources to meet recruitment goals

• Utilize technology

• Identify communication and collaboration strategies

Benchmarking Partners• Competitor Schools:

• Illinois State University• University of Illinois

• MAC Schools:• Ball State University• Miami University (uses PeopleSoft)

• Best Practice Schools:• Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis• University of Wisconsin – Madison

• Private School: Loyola University

Benchmarking Questions• What is the enrollment?• What is the tuition for 12 or more undergraduate hours?• What is the organizational structure?• What is the scholarship selection process?• What is the timing of scholarship offers?• What is the total scholarship budget? What is the

breakdown of institutional tuition waivers, endowed funds, or state or institutional cash money?

• For the academic merit awards, what is the percent of the award to tuition? How are these scholarships funded?

• What assessment practices are used to measure effectiveness of scholarship processes as they relate to institutional recruitment goals?

Enrollment Findings

NIU BSU ISU IUPUI LUC MU U of I UW M

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

40,000

45,000

Enrollment

Enrollment

NIU BSU ISU IUPUI LUC MU U of I UW

25,000

30,000

20,000

15,000

40,000

35,000

10,000

5,000

Number of Students

Tuition Findings

NIU BSU ISU IUPUI LUC MU U of IUW M$0.00

$1,000.00

$2,000.00

$3,000.00

$4,000.00

$5,000.00

$6,000.00

$7,000.00

$8,000.00

$9,000.00

Tuition

Tuition

NIU BSU ISU IUPUI LUC MU U of I UW M

Cost for 12 hours or more per semes-ter

$1000

$2000

$3000

$4000

$5000

$6000

$7000

$8000

Organizational Structure Findings• Only 2 out of 7 schools have a designated Scholarship

Office with their own Director• IUPUI• Loyola

• 5 out of 7 schools: scholarship process resides within Financial Aid

Scholarship Selection Process

• 3 institutions use a combination of automatic or computerized scholarship awards, application review by committee, and decentralized department awards

» NIU falls into this category

• 2 institutions: decentralized» selection processes are unknown

• 1 institution: computerized awarding or nominations by departments

• 1 institution: individual file review by Admissions by committee

Timing of Scholarship Offers

• Trend is to make scholarship offers in the Spring for the upcoming Fall

• 2 institutions: offers made at the time of Admission

• Range:

December 1 – July 1

Scholarship Budget and Breakdown

NIUBSU

IUPUI

Loyol

a

Catego

ry 5

Catego

ry 6

Catego

ry 7

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

waiversfunds

14 Mil

16Mil

12 Mil

10 Mil

8 Mil

6 Mil

4 Mil

2 Mil

NIU BSU IUPUI LU

Funds

Others not reported

Waivers

Academic Merit Awards

Award Covers• Full tuition (3)• Half tuition (1)• Room &Board (2)

Source of Funding• Tuition waivers (1)• Cash funds (2)• Combination (3)• Not reported (1)

Assessment Practices• Only 3 institutions have formal assessment practices

– Loyola: outside consulting firm– IUPUI: extensive program review– U of I: based on review of yield

• 3 institutions in development or under review

Implications and Goals for NIU

Implications and GoalsIdentify additional scholarship funds

• Leverage resources

Utilize technology• FY11 Annual Priority

Measure effectiveness• FY11 Annual Priority

Questions?