Marian University Improves Tuition Collection with Vontoo Call Broadcasts

WHO
Marian University is a growing Catholic liberal arts university in Indianapolis, Indiana that offers a traditional residential campus as well as a multi-site adult education program.  Marian University serves over 2,200 students, conferring 43 bachelor’s and one master’s degree in 36 majors.  In December 2010, the university announced that it had received a $30 million gift to build the state’s first college of osteopathic medicine.

THE SITUATION
The business office staff sought a more powerful and efficient way to reach students and parents for timely remittance of tuition and fees.  The university had traditionally used a blend of e-mails, staff-powered calls to students in the residence halls and  mailed invoices.

THE CAMPAIGN
The university’s staff decided to implement a Vontoo phone broadcast to remind students of the upcoming tuition payment.  Calls were sent out through Vontoo’s online application to over 1,400 students reminding them of the deadline.

THE RESULTS
By implementing the voice campaign with Vontoo, the business office staff reported that their phones were ringing all day.   They experienced the largest on-time tuition collection in history – even before accounting for online payments!  The business office staff was also delighted with the online call tracking, which allowed the school to determine that just under half the calls went to a machine.  Of the calls delivered live, the average listening duration was 42 seconds.  Delivery of the message was successful!  The business office can rely on Vontoo reporting that gives call detail down to the individual person, the time the message was delivered, and how long the recipient listened.

“I feel good about the outcome of the campaign. It took just minutes to record and send the message and we had our largest on-time tuition collection in memory.  We know that the best place to reach our students is on their phones.  We’ve since recommended Vontoo to other colleges.”

Alice A Shelton
Director of Business Services, Marian University

Customer:
Muskegon Community College

Industry:
Community College

Goal:
Increase Communication and Decrease Drop-Outs

Result:
Sustained $115K in Tuition and Increased Communication

Muskegon Community College Prevent Drop-Outs Using Vontoo Voice Marketing

School reaches existing and prospective students effectively and decreases marketing expenses

WHO

Muskegon Community College is a publicly supported educational institution that grants associates degrees to students. Established in 1926, the school is located in Western Michigan and serves nearly 5,000 students.

THE SITUATION

Muskegon Community College had a problem. Despite efforts to communicate with students effectively, students continued to miss special events and forget important deadlines. For example, each semester, the school faced a large number of students being dropped from classes as a result of missed tuition payments.

The school tried using various marketing techniques in the past, including direct mail reminders and live calls by staff members, but both were costly and time consuming. The school was looking for a new, effi cient, inexpensive and effective means of better communicating with students.

THE CAMPAIGN

The school started using Vontoo in March of 2009. Their voice campaign began with calls to current students to remind them of important special events and tuition payments deadlines. The results were so positive that the school decided to begi  extending calls to prospective students, as well.

THE RESULTS

Muskegon CC was thrilled with the results! By utilizing Vontoo, the school saw an immediate reduction in students dropped from classes due to missed tuition payments – one third fewer students were dropped for this reason than in the previous year! This resulted in over $115,000 in tuition sustained!

The service has also saved the school time and money by freeing up staff from making calls, and it has reduced the occurrence of ill-will among students dropped from classes due to missing tuition payments. By taking a proactive approach to communicating, Muskegon helped make students and prospective students feel welcome, informed and important. Simple reminders are going a long way towards personalizing relationships with students.

“Each time we send a Vontoo call, we immediately see our phones light up with student responses. The service has saved us students and tuition payments, saved our staff members’ time and has more than paid for itself. We couldn’t be happier with our decision to use Vontoo’s voice marketing services!”

George Maniates, Associate Vice President of Student Services, Muskegon Community College

Customer: A midwestern public research university with student enrollment over 20,000 students.
Industry: Education
Goal: Increase Communication from Bursar and Financial Aid Offices to Students
Result: Saved Over $600K and Improved Communications

Large Midwest University Saves Over $600K by Improving Communications

University utilizes Vontoo voice marketing in Bursar and Financial Aid Offices

THE SITUATION

The University has struggled with communication to students in two key departments.

The Bursar Office struggles each spring semester with communicating to its approximately 950 students who have outstanding tuition balances. With limited time and manpower available to making phone calls to students, the Bursar Office is often unable to contact all outstanding students. This failure to communicate has resulted in a large number of students dropped each semester, ultimately leading to lower student enrollment and lost university revenue.

The Financial Aid Office, which also suffers from limited resources, is constantly challenged with reminding students to submit paperwork on time for their FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) grant and aid programs. Limited manpower and unread emails lead to a communication lapse between the office and students, thus students frequently miss the FAFSA deadline for submission. This results in fewer students receiving grants, which results in the university losing out on money from the state, affecting the year’s bottom line.

THE CAMPAIGN

The University’s Bursar and Financial Aid Offices implemented several Vontoo voice campaigns, sending important messages to students. The Bursar Office sent a call to approximately 950 students with outstanding balances informing them of payments due.

The Financial Aid Office sent a series of calls to remind current, new and transfer students of FAFSA paperwork due dates. The university sent calls out to over 15,000 students.

THE RESULTS
The Bursar Office immediately experienced an influx of students calling in, as a result of the informative Vontoo message, to make their outstanding tuition payments. This resulted in approximately 100 fewer dropped students than the in the previous spring semester. With an average tuition over $3,000 per semester, the university realized a 12,125% return on their Vontoo investment of only $2,500. Just imagine, if the same students re-enroll next Fall, the annual monetary return will double!

“…it resulted in significant monetary savings for the university”

– according to the Director of Administration

The Financial Aid Office had an extremely high rate of attention to the Vontoo calls they sent. On average, students answered 53% of the calls live, listening to an average of 77% of the message. “Both our Bursar and Financial Aid Offices were able to significantly improve communications for the spring 2009 semester using Vontoo. Not only did the service allow us to reach students better and improve relations with them, but it’s resulted in significant monetary savings for the university.”

Director of Administration and Business Analysis