Case Study: Hawkeye Community College achieves enrollment growth and reverses multi-year decline with Ruffalo Noel Levitz

How Hawkeye Community College used RNL solutions to increase enrollment and credit hours

Hawkeye Community College, a two-year public college in Waterloo, Iowa, faced several semesters of declining headcount and credit-hour enrollment driven by low regional unemployment, new state funding guidelines, and a shrinking rural population. To address immediate and long-term recruitment and retention challenges, Hawkeye engaged Ruffalo Noel Levitz and used RNL Strategic Enrollment Planning to develop a comprehensive enrollment strategy.

Ruffalo Noel Levitz helped Hawkeye implement a multifaceted solution — launching sustainable intercollegiate athletics, deploying a centralized CRM, revamping academic advising with success coaches, and creating career academy centers linked to local high schools — that stabilized and began reversing enrollment declines. With Ruffalo Noel Levitz’s guidance, Hawkeye grew FTE by 53 students in 2016, increased headcount nearly 5% (from 5,219 in 2014 to 5,532 in 2016), and achieved a 1.2% increase in credit hours year‑over‑year, while improving campus morale.

Hawkeye Community College

Kathy Flynn

Vice President of Enrollment Services