Case Study: Texas Tech University achieves record 40,000+ enrollment and data-driven recruitment with Salesforce for Nonprofits

TTU Achieves Record Enrollment with Salesforce

Texas Tech University set an ambitious goal to grow undergraduate enrollment from 30,000 to 40,000 in ten years while maintaining educational quality and community. The admissions team identified major barriers in data management and an unstable CRM environment—having cycled through three different systems in eight years—leaving them without automation, personalization, or easy access to the student lifecycle data needed for modern recruitment and communications.

TTU implemented Salesforce (with TargetX) and migrated campus-wide data, quickly using the platform for recruitment, COVID-19 communications and later Marketing Cloud. The result: a 200% increase in digital communications, surpassing the 40,000 enrollment target, improved first-year retention (87.6%) and six-year graduation (63.3%), and strong gains in honors and diversity—Presidential Scholars grew from 1,733 to 3,966, National Merit Finalists increased tenfold, and Black and Hispanic student populations rose six- and eight-fold respectively—alongside faster, data-driven recruiting, personalization and streamlined internal processes.

Texas Tech University

Jamie Hansard

Vice President for Enrollment Management