Student Affairs and Enrollment Management: How Institutions Align for Student Success
he relationship between student affairs and enrollment management has evolved to reflect the changing needs of students and higher education institutions. While student affairs traditionally emphasizes co-curricular development, wellness, and personal growth, enrollment management drives strategies for recruitment, retention, and completion. Together, these divisions shape the student journey—though the structure of that collaboration often looks different depending on the type of institution.
This post explores three institutional contexts—community college, public research university, and private liberal arts college—to illustrate how student affairs and enrollment management intersect, align, and diverge in practice.
Community College: Riverside City College (RCC)
Mission & Students:
Riverside City College, a two-year public community college, is dedicated to affordability, access, and workforce development. The student body is diverse, including many first-generation, nontraditional, and returning students.
Relationship Between Divisions:
At RCC, student affairs and enrollment management work closely within an equity framework. Student affairs provides academic advising, basic needs support, and counseling, while enrollment management oversees outreach, financial aid, and persistence strategies.
Key Dynamics:
Overlap: First-year experience programs, advising, and student support services.
Difference: Enrollment management is tightly aligned with state funding metrics and transfer pipelines, while student affairs emphasizes holistic student development.
Public Research University: UC Davis
Mission & Students:
UC Davis, part of the University of California system, serves a large and global student body. Its mission highlights research, innovation, and comprehensive undergraduate and graduate education.
Relationship Between Divisions:
At UC Davis, student affairs and enrollment management are distinct yet aligned. Enrollment management drives admissions, yield analytics, and institutional data. Student affairs encompasses residential life, health and wellness, multicultural engagement, and leadership programs.
Key Dynamics:
Overlap: Shared focus on retention, supported by data-sharing and early alert systems.
Difference: Student affairs is decentralized across units, while enrollment management is highly centralized and tied to institutional goals.
Private Liberal Arts College: Pomona College
Mission & Students:
Pomona College is a small, residential liberal arts institution known for personalized learning, small class sizes, and its close-knit community.
Relationship Between Divisions:
Here, collaboration is built into the culture. Admissions and financial aid fall under enrollment management, while student affairs oversees wellness, identity programs, and leadership development. Given the college’s size, the two areas work hand-in-hand with strong communication and shared governance.
Key Dynamics:
Overlap: Orientation, diversity initiatives, and career preparation.
Difference: Less reliance on large-scale data analytics; more focus on relationships and personalization.
Comparative Insights
Across all three institutions, similarities include:
A shared role in retention, persistence, and completion.
Strong collaboration in orientation, advising, and first-year programming.
A mutual commitment to equity, inclusion, and student success.
Differences, however, are shaped by institutional type and philosophy:
Size & Mission: Large universities lean on specialization and analytics; smaller colleges emphasize personalization and relationships.
Resource Allocation: Community colleges often operate within state funding models, while private colleges invest heavily in individualized student support.
Organizational Structure: Research universities tend to decentralize student affairs while centralizing enrollment functions; liberal arts colleges favor cross-functional collaboration.
Conclusion
The relationship between student affairs and enrollment management may vary from campus to campus, but their shared mission is clear: supporting students from recruitment to graduation. Whether through equity-driven partnerships at community colleges, data-informed strategies at research universities, or relational collaboration at liberal arts colleges, these divisions are strongest when they align with institutional values and student needs.
For higher education leaders, understanding these dynamics is key to creating accessible, equitable, and engaging learning environments that foster student success.
References
American Council on Education. (1937, June). The student personnel point of view. https://www.naspa.org/images/uploads/main/Student_Personnel_Point_of_View_1937.pdf
Hevel, M. S., & Wells Dolan, A. E. (2023). A concise and critical history of student affairs. In G. S. McClellan & J. M. Kiyama (Eds.), The handbook of student affairs administration (5th ed., pp. 3–32). Jossey-Bass.
Kinzie, J. (2023). Campus environments and student affairs. In G. S. McClellan & J. M. Kiyama (Eds.), The handbook of student affairs administration (5th ed., pp. 55–75). Jossey-Bass.