When enrollment leaders at Western Connecticut State University (WCSU) recognized the need to further enhance their decision-making capabilities, they turned to Liaison Othot, an AI-powered predictive and prescriptive analytics tool. Their goals, which included identifying likely students, optimizing resource allocation, and making proactive decisions, reflected the desire to shift from subjective judgments to objective analysis.

The result? Othot helped WCSU lower its discount rate from 34% to 32% and increase net tuition revenue by over $2 million.

To share their success story with others, WCSU Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs Jay Murray and Associate Dean of Enrollment Management and Financial Aid Melissa Stephens recently participated in Liaison webinar, Analytics in Action: How to Optimize Aid Allocation and Make Data-Driven Decisions Earlier in the Recruitment Cycle. The session is now available on demand.

Data-Informed Decisions

“When I arrived at WCSU several years ago, we were very much an anecdotal institution that was lacking the available data we needed to make the right decisions,” Murray said. “Melissa and I have decades of enrollment experience between us, but we were still relying on gut reactions. Now Othot is crunching the data and eliminating that gut judgement, making us truly data informed.”

Liaison Client Success Director Lauren Speerhas described how that works.

“What machine learning allows us to do is ingest thousands of data points from across campus and across data sets to get a very good understanding of student behavior at an individual level,” she said.

“With thousands of people across the funnel, our human brains can't process all the information about all those students at an individual level and then also account for any changes in their behavior throughout the enrollment cycle. But machine learning gives us the power to do that, and it can do it in seconds. Othot, specifically, is a really powerful tool for enrollment leaders not just to predict outcomes, but to make well-informed, strategic decisions that address your targeted goals for enrollment or student success.”

Identifying Predictors of Enrollment

During this webinar, you’ll learn:

  • How factors such as proximity to campus, athlete status, and areas of academic interest emerged as a strong predictor of enrollment at WCSU.
  • How financial aid impacts likelihood to enroll—and how institutions can tailor their strategies more effectively.
  • Why more financial aid directors, enrollment management leaders, and university administrators are now modernizing their aid distribution strategies through data-driven approaches.
  • How other resources, including Liaison’s Enrollment Marketing financial aid award letters and your CRM, can further enhance your recruitment initiatives.

The potential role of artificial intelligence (AI) to influence enrollment outcomes, financial aid distribution, and student success cannot be overlooked. Tune in to Analytics in Action: How to Optimize Aid Allocation and Make Data-Driven Decisions Earlier in the Recruitment Cycle to learn more about how WCSU and other institutions are using Othot’s advanced analytics to increase yield rates, maximize financial aid awards, and nurture best-fit candidates.