Intelliworks and Starfish Partner to Link Student Recruitment and Retention
  

Bethesda, Md. and Arlington, Va. – February 2, 2010 – Intelliworks, Inc., a leading provider of relationship management solutions for higher education and Starfish Retention Solutions, Inc., a leading provider of student success systems, announced today a partnership that will provide higher education institutions with access to Intelliworks’ CRM, admissions and marketing functionality and Starfish’s early alert, online scheduling and student tracking capabilities. The combined offering will enable institutions to extend their enrollment management strategies from initial marketing outreach through to graduation – ensuring that the institution attracts their ideal kind of student and then supports that student throughout the entire student lifecycle.

While institutions spend an average of nearly $2,500 to recruit each enrolled student, one in four students do not return after their first year.* Colleges and universities are spending more than ever to attract students, but they are not investing in strategies that will improve persistence rates for their institutions.

As colleges and universities continue to struggle with budget cuts and shrinking operating margins, more institutions are looking at the link between their recruitment and enrollment efforts and student retention. According to a recent white paper published by Noel-Levitz, “Connecting Enrollment and Fiscal Management,” on average a four-year private institution realizes nearly $2M in additional net revenue by retaining 40 additional first-year students at an initial average net revenue per student of $17,359.

“Both Starfish and Intelliworks are committed to helping higher education institutions connect with students,” said Todd Gibby, CEO of Intelliworks. “Our customers have seen how investing in the right strategy and technology can not only help them market their programs more efficiently, but deliver a far greater student experience and ultimately generate more revenue.”

The combined offering will give institutions the ability to integrate and gain insight from the many touch points throughout the student lifecycle, including marketing, admissions, faculty, advisors, tutors and academic counselors, and alumni relations. Specifically, with Intelliworks, colleges and universities can leverage the many interactions that occur between prospective students and admissions counselors to help identify whether a student is the right match for the institution. Starfish then processes the key, daily interactions that occur between enrolled students and their instructors, advisors and tutors – helping to identify when a student is struggling and connecting him or her to support resources.