Capabilities

Hardwick-Day covers the board, from national policy and the economic landscape, to operations and strategy, right down to tactics. The firm can also manage triage and turnaround.

Public Policy Research & Analysis

Hardwick-Day pioneered statewide research in family finance and higher education funding at the Minnesota Private College Council. This was replicated in Oregon and the findings were similar to those in Minnesota: the most affluent student population in the state was found at the flagship public institution. More...

Comparative Alumni Research

In 20 years, how will the students you are currently recruiting look back on their experience at your college? How will that compare to their peers who attended other institutions? Hardwick-Day’s Comparative Alumni Research documents the nature of the student experience and alumni life outcomes. More...

Operational Assessment

This is the "blocking and tackling" of enrollment management. Hardwick-Day helps uncover weak spots and identify underused assets to improve how cost-effectively colleges employ staff, monetary, technical, and communications resources. More...

Enrollment Optimization

There are many consulting firms that will address individual aspects of admissions and financial aid. They might recommend discounting to bring in a bigger class, or design and field a survey, or produce a beautiful set of admissions publications. More...

Financial Aid Optimization

In a fiercely competitive and highly dynamic market, the institutions with the most sophisticated understanding of price-demand response will fare better than their competitors in terms of enrollment and net revenue. No matter how finely attuned financial aid programs are, there are still systematic instances of over- and under-awarding that, if they could be known and addressed, would contribute to additional efficiency, stronger enrollment yield, and ultimately a better market position. More...

Finance Models

Institutions try, with varying degrees of success, all sorts of data modeling. Live modeling is one of Hardwick-Day’s strong suits. For institutions which aspire to move beyond "the milestone mentality", the firm offers a variety of custom finance models. More...

Training, Development & Planning

Increasingly, the best enrollment programs are staffed by versatile, widely-knowledgeable people. The benefit for families is one-stop expertise and stronger, more sustainable recruitment relationships. In an environment in which it is harder and harder to find experienced financial aid directors and senior admissions people, a cross-trained staff offers colleges a greater depth of talent, more professional advancement possibilities, better staff retention, more professionalism, and more effective recruitment. More...

Executive Search

Hardwick-Day can help augment leadership and staff skills in areas including the following and more...

• Searching for and recruiting new chief enrollment officers and financial aid directors
• Serving as interim directors of financial aid
• Mentoring newly hired or promoted admissions and enrollment directors

Price & Positioning Research

The firm brings corporate-sector-quality market research expertise to higher education. Hardwick-Day partners with Strategic Resource Partners, LLC, whose corporate clients—Motorola and HSBC, for example—make it familiar with youth consumer markets here and around the world. More...