Situation
Censeo’s client, a public Virginia state university, was facing a common problem among higher education institutions: controlling tuition prices while continuing to maintain top-tier academics and student services. The university had been experiencing rising academic performance and had a strong reputation for student services and student experience. Over the past few years, student enrollment had increased by nearly 20 percent. Despite these changes, tuition remained consistently low compared to its peer state institutions. University leadership brought in Censeo to guide efforts to make the administrative operations more effective so the university could maximize their investment in education and student experiences.
Approach
Over a 13-week period, Censeo worked with the client to perform a diagnostic assessment of all administrative functions within the university. The diagnostic included extensive faculty and staff interviews to understand the university operations and culture, a thorough review of university financials, and an organizational and financial benchmark analysis against similar universities. Ultimately, nearly 40 different potential improvement opportunities were identified.