Enrollment marketing benchmarks show what typical looks like at each stage of the funnel: how many started applications get submitted, how many admitted students enroll, how many students come back for a second year. Use them to find the stage where you’re furthest behind, then judge your own campaigns against a holdout of your own students, not against a national average.
Every number below comes from a named public source or from our own campaigns, with the year it covers. Benchmarks age quickly, so check each source for a newer edition before you plan against it.
We mapped 83 target actions across six stages, from a started application to re-enrolling after a stop-out. The benchmarks below follow the same order. For how to move each stage, see our guide to college enrollment marketing, and for how we report our own numbers, see our results.
Enrollment benchmarks by stage
| Stage | Benchmark | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Recruitment cost | Median cost to recruit one new undergraduate: $2,795 at private four-year institutions, $494 at public four-year institutions (2021 data) | RNL, 2022 Cost of Recruiting report |
| Application | 24% of students who started a Common App application in 2018–19 never submitted one | Annenberg Institute, via Higher Ed Dive |
| Yield | Average yield at four-year not-for-profit colleges: 30.2% in fall 2022 (33% private, 25% public), down from 36% in 2014 | NACAC, State of College Admission |
| Summer melt | 10% to 40% of college-intending students | Strategic Data Project, Summer Melt Handbook |
| Price | Average tuition discount rate for first-time undergraduates at private nonprofits: 57.1%, projected for 2025–26 | NACUBO, via Higher Ed Dive |
| First-year retention | Of fall 2024 starters, 69.1% were back at their starting institution a year later and 77.1% were enrolled anywhere; 54.1% of part-time starters were still enrolled | National Student Clearinghouse, Persistence and Retention |
| Completion | 61.1% of the fall 2019 cohort earned a credential within six years | National Student Clearinghouse, Yearly Progress and Completion |
| Re-enrollment | More than one million adults with some college and no credential re-enrolled in 2023–24 | National Student Clearinghouse, Some College, No Credential |
What each benchmark tells you
Recruitment cost
Cost per new student varies widely by institution type, so compare yourself with schools like yours. Then split your own cost by source: an inquiry source that rarely applies costs more per enrolled student than its cost per lead suggests. More in our 10 student recruitment strategies.
Applications
Almost a quarter of started applications never get submitted. The missing piece is usually small: a transcript, a recommendation, a fee, an essay. Track your own started-to-submitted rate, and reach students about the specific item they’re missing.
Yield
Average yield has slipped since 2014. Compare your yield by program and by aid band, not just overall, and look for the admitted students who go quiet before the deposit. More on enrollment yield.
Summer melt
The range is wide, so your own number matters more. Measure your melt by census date, and track each summer step. More in our guide to summer melt.
Price
A rising discount rate means each new student brings in less net tuition. Track net tuition revenue beside enrollment, so a bigger class doesn’t hide a smaller budget. More in strategic enrollment management.
Retention and completion
The gap between retention (69.1%) and persistence (77.1%) is students who stayed in college but left your institution. Part-time students persist at much lower rates. More in our 8 student retention strategies.
Re-enrollment
More than a million adults with some college re-enrolled in a single year. The students most likely to come back are those who left recently or have most of their credits. More in how to bring stopped-out students back.
Our campaign averages
These are averages across Motimatic campaigns, from our results page. They show what a campaign moves at each stage; they aren’t holdout results.
| Stage | Average conversion across campaigns |
|---|---|
| Enroll | 4.5% |
| Retain | 20% |
| Recover stop-outs | 6.4% |
Retain covers campaign actions such as advisor meetings and next-term registration, not term-over-term retention. Our campaigns average 14.5 impressions per student per month, measured across the ad networks serving them from January to September 2026.
Holdout tests are reported separately. At a top-100 Northeast university, admitted students who received our outreach paid their deposit at 11.21%, against 3.61% for a randomly selected holdout, a 210% lift significant at 95% confidence. At a top-300 four-year institution, leads in the campaign group submitted 350% more applications than the group that received nothing from us, a result significant at 95%.
Want to see what this does on your own list? Start a pilot with one list and one goal: submitted applications, deposits or registrations.
How to use enrollment benchmarks
- Start with your own trend. Compare this cycle with the last two at the same date. Your own history is the most relevant benchmark you have.
- Compare like with like. Public and private, two-year and four-year, first-year and transfer students all run at different rates.
- Find the biggest gap. The stage where you trail the benchmark most is where the next dollar goes.
- Judge campaigns against a holdout. Benchmarks move with demographics, the economy and the size of each class. A random holdout of your own students shows what a campaign changed. New Motimatic campaigns hold out a random 5% of the list. More on how we measure.
- Track actions, not attention. Opens and clicks show that a message was seen. Applications, deposits and registrations show that it worked.
Common questions about enrollment benchmarks
What’s a good yield rate? It depends on your institution. The four-year average was about 30% in fall 2022, 33% at private colleges and 25% at public ones. Your own trend and your peer group matter more than the national average.
What’s a good conversion rate for an enrollment campaign? It depends on the stage and the list. Across our campaigns, the average at the enroll stage is 4.5%. The better question is how much higher your list converts than a holdout that got nothing.
Where can we find peer benchmarks? NCES sends every institution that reports to IPEDS an annual Data Feedback Report comparing it with a peer group, and NACAC and the National Student Clearinghouse publish national figures.
How often should we update benchmarks? Every cycle. Most of the national figures above are updated each year.
Keep reading on enrollment marketing
- College enrollment marketing: a stage-by-stage guide
- Summer melt: what causes it and how to prevent it
- Strategic enrollment management: 7 best practices
- 10 student recruitment strategies for higher ed
- 8 student retention strategies
- The 2027 enrollment squeeze, our white paper
- Everything on yield and enrollment marketing
