American University in Bulgaria

The goal of higher enrollment of 1,200 undergraduate students remains vital to the sustainability and strength of AUBG. Increasing enrollment will increase our ability to expand academic programming both through new programs and within existing programs. A larger enrollment also allows for more efficient utilization of our existing classroom and other facilities. We are not proposing to meet the numerical enrollment target by becoming less: by maintaining high quality standards, we will not sacrifice our ability to offer a meaningful, high quality learning environment and learning experience for all students. Analysis of the results of our admissions process shows that AUBG enrolls a high percentage of its admitted students. The “yield rates” is particularly high for Bulgarian students, moderate in regional countries in which we recruit actively, and lowest in the most distant international markets.

1. Define our market and peer group of competitors on an annual basis to adapt to the dynamic educational, demographic, and geo-political shifts.
2. Institute a rigorous market Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning (STP) approach to recruiting, which will inform our future priorities and initiatives to attract more applicants fitting the profile we target, and to increase yield.
3. Make scholarship support a Development priority. Tuition payments from AUBG students cover only direct educational expenses; the rest of the cost of running the University has to be funded via scholarships. This makes scholarship money a major factor in our ability to fulfill our mission.
4. Measure, evaluate, and market a consistent academic image of AUBG to prospective students, and their influencers such as teachers and parents, with the objective to increase propensity to apply and help meet Admissions KPI’s for inquiries, applications, and enrollment.

The Admissions team is highly committed and consists of a number of young motivated professionals. The well-designed current structure supports the activities related to recruitment and admissions to the university. Policies and procedures are in place to ensure smooth operations of the office. A newly adopted CRM system allows for better planning, tracking, and engagement of prospective students. The AUBG’s website is structured so it reveals AUBG’s key advantages and supports the recruitment efforts flawlessly. The strategic plan of the office aims to develop a culture of support from the AUBG community, build strategic partnerships, sustain performing markets and develop new ones. It also focuses on activities along the admissions funnel, targets and goals, addresses key segments, recruitment channels, key partners and activities, and outlines the action plan for the implementation of the strategy.

The Admissions office achieved great results in the fall of 2018 by enrolling 251 new degree seeking students, a number representing 33 % increase over the previous year and the highest number in 7 years. The biggest success was in the number of Bulgarian students (170), which is 56% higher than the previous year and the best result in 12 years. Not only that the students were higher in numbers but they are also stronger academically as measured by Admission points. Following the trends and analyzing the reasons for success we are looking to replicate the success in Bulgaria to other international markets. We have started another integrated Marketing and Recruitment campaign and we are initiating new strategic partnerships. To address the area for improvement, i.e. converting more applicants to complete their applications we are focusing on more on-campus events and competitions which will provide opportunities for more students to experience AUBG.