Case Study: Santa Clara University boosts yield and reduces melt with PeopleGrove

How to Introduce the Spirit of Your Campus

Santa Clara University faced mounting enrollment challenges — a shrinking college‑age population, new NACAC recruiting rules that heightened competition, and the sudden disruption of COVID‑19 — and needed a way to scale authentic student-to-prospect connections while projecting its Silicon Valley identity. To meet that need, Santa Clara University partnered with PeopleGrove and launched the Bronco Exchange, a PeopleGrove‑powered platform to extend the reach of student ambassadors beyond in‑person tours.

PeopleGrove delivered a guided-connection platform (Bronco Exchange) that lets admitted students search for and message ambassadors by interest, run private groups and dozens of virtual meetups for incoming students, and integrate with tools like Brazen for online events. The solution reduced staff workload, helped drive yield and quickly shifted focus to anti‑melt efforts — preventing summer melt through orientation‑led engagement — and supported the university’s strong retention outcomes, demonstrating measurable impact from PeopleGrove’s features and data.

Santa Clara University

Becky Konowicz

Interim Dean of Undergraduate Admissions