In a number of schools I’ve visited in the past two decades, enrollment has been decreasing.\u00a0 When I first started with FACTS in 2008 after leaving a Diocesan’s Office for Catholic Schools, I was told to search the database for large enrollment schools.<\/p>\n
Two of them stand out in my mind, because they were both in my hometown of Pittsburgh, PA: St. Bernard, and St. Elizabeth.<\/p>\n
Both in the South Hills of Pittsburgh, they were also two of the largest at the time.<\/p>\n
My supervisor said, “Look at these – St. Bernard…800 students.\u00a0 St. Elizabeth…745 students.\u00a0 Why haven’t you contacted those?”<\/p>\n
I said because they’re not at that level today.\u00a0 St. Bernard had about 450 students, and St. Elizabeth had about 375 students.\u00a0 We were also using a database that couldn’t be updated by the user.\u00a0 Changes had to be made through one administrative assistant, who assisted everyone on the sales team.\u00a0 And with 16 representatives, that’s a lot of phone calls and changes to make.<\/p>\n
Both of these schools did not use FACTS for their tuition management – one did all their billing manually, and, when they decided to meet with me, their new business manager discovered that they were not collecting over $100,000 in tuition every year.\u00a0 Consequently, tuition increased – not just because of inflation and salary\/benefit increases, but to make up the shortfall of the previous year.\u00a0 Tuition increases led to enrollment decreases.\u00a0 Those who remained didn’t fulfill their tuition obligations.\u00a0 Rinse. Repeat.<\/p>\n
As for the other school, they changed to FACTS when it acquired the competitor they were using.\u00a0 However the terms of the agreement stated that the level of service would be maintained – and that meant keeping the same processes that were in place as the competitor, rather than using “The Better Way” that was FACTS’ distinctive difference.\u00a0 Enrollment continued to decline because parents got tired of paying late fees when they insisted they paid their obligation on time.\u00a0 Indeed, they paid it – but mailed checks are subjected to mail delays.\u00a0 And “date paid” and “date received and processed” are different dates when everything is done with paper.<\/p>\n
With enrollment decreasing, schools began marketing efforts via this new thing call a “Web site” – which, for many faith-based schools, was a Web page on the affiliated church’s Web site.\u00a0 What did they put on that site?\u00a0 Their tuition.\u00a0 Parents took one look at that chart, thought to themselves, “We can’t afford this,” and didn’t even see what the school offered.<\/p>\n
So, while schools were not being very successful in attracting new enrolled students, those in the upper grades were leaving as tuitions increased.\u00a0 Further, if families had multiple children in the school, withdrawing the oldest one usually meant taking all the brothers and sisters along for the change because parents didn’t want to have to go to two different schools for activities, or more fundraisers to participate in.<\/p>\n
I saw these things happening in the schools I worked with at the Diocese, and saw the trends repeated throughout the portions of the 5 states I served during my time with FACTS.\u00a0 A couple of years into my tenure, I created a white paper on retention that I left with the prospective customers I met with, and it was suggested I turn it into a book since school administrators liked books rather than papers.<\/p>\n
The big question I’m always asked is, “How did things get to be this bad?”\u00a0 That’s easy to explain.\u00a0 It’s called, “Gravity.”<\/p>\n
Here’s an experiment you can do at home.\u00a0 Fill your kitchen sink with water.\u00a0 Then, place a small, floating object on the surface – like a pea.<\/p>\n
Without disturbing the pea, pull the stopper out to let the water drain.<\/p>\n
You’ll see the pea float along for a while while the water drains.\u00a0 Then, watch what happens when the water level becomes lower and lower.<\/p>\n
My book on retention was published in 2011, and updated in 2018 to include a chapter on the Millennial Generation – which every parent in the PK-12 space is a member of.\u00a0 It contains 12 strategies to retain students – actually, to retain parents – as part of your school community, since it costs less to keep a customer than it does to find a new one.<\/p>\n
One of those strategies deals with supporting growth.\u00a0 While it will cost money if the downward vortex continues, it will also cost money to create and support growth.\u00a0 The difference is that one is making up for loss, while the other is fostering success.\u00a0 The latter makes a great case statement for donors to provide generous funding for that growth to continue; the former just says help us stay afloat for another year.<\/p>\n
\u00a9 Michael V. Ziemski, ArchangelAdvancement, 2026<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
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