Noreen, the president of a tuition-dependent, moderately selective United States university, was under considerable pressure. Three years prior, the university had missed its enrollment target by a sizable amount, and Noreen had to replace her vice president of enrollment. While that small class was still making its way through the four-year pipeline, the failed rollout of the new FAFSA financial aid application took another large toll on incoming class applicant numbers, and the “summer melt,” in which students who have accepted their admission offer become no-shows, was larger than expected, compounding the tuition-revenue problem even further.
