Putting You Back in Control

You know that feeling… They were just here! They can’t be far. The timing couldn’t be worse with everything you have to do. Now you’re on the hunt when you have better things to accomplish. But you just can’t quite put your hands on them.

Ah, and that feeling when you finally discover them stuck between the sofa cushions.

OK, we don’t literally help you find missing keys. But in a way… that’s exactly what we do. That’s how our clients have described it. We help them find their keys – keys for moving forward, for improvement, for growth.

We put you back in control of your recruitment and retention goals.

Stop wasting your time hoping generic, templatized, outdated or incomplete keys will fit your world. They definitely don't fit your student's world.

The best part - this is about the keys you already have.

What can finding your keys do for you?

Let's Break Some Records, Together

That's the result of our work. More of your ideal students. And that's just the start.

You’ve got a great vision for your institution.

You have a passion to demonstrate the institution’s exceptional qualities.

Everyone is looking to you. But wait, funding is down. Costs are up. It’s increasingly difficult to stand out in the crowd.

Especially to your ideal students.

Talk of growth can create fear of declining standards.

Leaders can feel they are at a dead-end.

There is no point in sugarcoating it. The world is making it harder for you to survive – let alone excel.

And the early signs from 2017 suggest there is a whole new chapter in this struggle.

Old methods simply won’t navigate these waters.

We are here to give you the tools to thrive in this new-normal.

Authentic Sustainable Attraction

We are the authors of recruitment & retention growth through Authentic & Sustainable Attraction.

Consider those words for a moment. What is inferred as well as what isn’t.

• Authentic vs fabricated
• Sustainable vs Costly
• Attract vs Sell

This is an incredibly powerful framework for recruiting and retaining your ideal students – those students who are a great fit for your school. And that’s just the start. Alumni relations flourishes on this foundation.

This is what we stand for. This is what we believe in. This is what we know. This is what we do.

The results are proven. This is key to your success. And we’d like to share the formula with you. Seriously, we actually have a formula for your success. We call it the Student Engagement Framework.

The tremendous results we create year after year are no surprise. We've developed this formula and framework after conducting research with thousands of students, parents and school professionals. We've honed the insights into a powerful, usable framework to drive meaningful growth for your institution.

Here is what we know:

• If you want to create Attraction,
• you must craft Engagements
• that are Authentic, Sympathetic and Inspiring.
• These engagements are strategically designed for the student journey
• in the form of experiences and delivered with continuity over Time. 

See what this formula can do for you.

Comprehensive Growth

We focus on both sides of the institution – enrollment and retention.

We are a high-performance + meaningful-results consultancy that helps colleges and universities improve the performance of your recruiting and retention efforts.

If you wish to:

• Be more effective at recruiting your right student...
• Better convey your value proposition...
• Increase net tuition revenue…
• Improve your efficiency of yielding students...
• Increase student success...
• Increase student satisfaction and retention...
• Increase cross-campus awareness, participation and collaboration...
• Increase perception and advocacy for your institution...
• Increase donor and constituent support...

What if this were all possible with your existing staff and your existing infrastructure?

What if ... ...that was just the tip of the iceberg?

From large, public to small, private institutions, our work is shown to dramatically improve enrollment and retention results.

Big-picture strategies with effective tactics that have immediate impact. From the plans to the do-ing, no one is producing results as comprehensive, sustainable and transformative. It's that simple.

We work with the main groups on campus. This ensures the great ideas permeate the institution. We call this continuity through all of your touch-points.

Campus groups we work with:

Proof Positive

If nothing speaks louder than results, then our results are deafening.

However you define growth:

• Increase Net Tuition Revenues
• Better results from your Search purchases
• Increased Volume
• Increased Yield
• More Applications
• More Deposits
• Increased Enrollment
• Reduced Melt
• Better attract students with different demographic or rigor profiles
• Better Retention
• Improved Student Success
• ...or all the above...

We will turn your goals into reality.

However you define success (short term and long term), our work together will be a significant contributor to your growth. The financial benefits will easily justify the partnership. The numerous soft benefits, that become self evident over time, are a delightful bonus for the campus community. And you’ll quickly realize those are actually as meaningful, if not more, for your success.

Whether your focus is on the high level of Strategic Enrollment Management or more tactical goals like managing Yield and Melt, you will find our student engagement framework incredibly valuable.

What some of our clients are saying:

"Now this is something I can actually use!"

- Philip Ballinger, Assistant Vice President for Enrollment

 "Without your expertise, we would not have gotten here."

- Paula Shields, Communications Director, Office of Admissions

All Records Surpassed @ Colorado State University

2 Years in a Row!!

CSU sees growth in all enrollment metrics. Record enrollment with tremendous improvement in key areas: Diversity, First-Generation, International (up by 22%), Out of State (up by 20%).

“There is nothing else being offered like this and this is exactly what schools need.”

- Jim Rawlins, Associate Vice President for Enrollment & Access

We think the process of engaging prospective and existing students has lost its way. 

“The most dangerous phrase in the language: “We’ve always done it this way.”

            — Grace Hopper, US Naval Officer

The current methods are outdated, costly and simply don't engage the current generation. Are you still attempting to attract and connect with students with defunct methods that are based on realities that simply don't exist anymore?

If you want to survive you must adapt.

If you want to excel you must evolve.

Yes, we are leading a revolution of sorts.

We are leading a revolution against ineffective templatized, one-size-fits-all, boring recruiting 'solutions'. We are here to help you stop the waste. To help you stop churn. To help you escape the noise.

It's a new world - have you evolved?

“The amount of crap we get is just unbelievable and it just doesn’t stop!”

            — Actual quote from a parent (similar to many, many other comments from parents and students)

... is this where all of your effort and expense is ending up?

Sound familiar?

If any of this strikes a cord with you, we think you'd really enjoy connecting with us.

We are helping schools take back control.

With Mind the Gap, you will go in a new direction in developing effective recruiting and engagement strategies and tools.

Why are we a preferred partner?

Mind the Gap consulting is routinely chosen by schools over the other typical large vendors because the strategies and guidance we develop with you are tailored to your specific school.

We help you break free of templatized, costly and ineffective methods of building engagements with students.

It all comes down to a student's trust in your communications. We help you to build trust in your communications with prospective students. We do this by ensuring each engagement accurately meets the ways students are truly considering schools.

We ensure you stay relevant, interesting and desired in the flood of noise prospective students experience.

NO OTHER STRATEGIC ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT ADVISOR IS PRODUCING THE RESULTS WE ARE.

Together, let's stop the one-size-fits-all approach to recruiting students.

Our work together will give you the tools and insights to be highly effective at recruiting your right student.

THE RESULTS ARE TRANSFORMATIONAL.

The results are also highly contagious – when other teams around you see the results you are obtaining they will want to join in your approach. Nothing builds cross-campus collaboration more than visible results.

Start Seeing Results.

You know recruiting students today is very different than just 5 years ago. 

You probably are realizing the old methods are simply not as effective as they once were.

More crucial, the current student generation expects more and different engagements from you than any previous generation.

If you don't commit yourself to adapting then you are committing yourself to getting lost in the noise.

Now is the time to make this a priority.

If you want to be effective at recruiting your right student, then modernizing your recruiting strategy and tactics should not be considered optional.

Easy to start.

Our partnership begins with small steps and progressively grows at a natural pace that you and your environment dictate.