Case Study: Black Hawk College achieves enrollment success during the pandemic with Ellucian CRM Recruit

Increasing enrollment of urban- and rural-based students during a pandemic

Black Hawk College, serving nine Illinois counties with both urban and rural campuses, needed to realign its enrollment strategy amid pandemic disruption and a diverse prospect pool. Dean of Enrollment Management Heather Bjorgan rolled out Ellucian CRM Recruit to boost enrollment and bridge the differing needs of urban and rural prospects; because the product is web-based and cloud-hosted, recruiters could work from home during the pandemic.

Using Ellucian CRM Recruit, the college implemented personalized, modern engagement—especially mobile texting—to reach and retain students; Bjorgan notes texts have prevented about 50 students from losing their seats. The vendor’s solution enabled measurable, scalable outreach and will power a planned re-engagement campaign targeting 3,000 former-student leads who did not graduate.

Black Hawk College

Heather Bjorgan

Dean of Enrollment Management