These charts reflect the results of UNLV expanding its out-of-state visibility for undergraduate recruitment. Applications from outside Nevada have almost doubled — increasing 93 percent – in just four years.

Why does this matter?

This growth comes with a corresponding and expected decline in yield. Yield is the percent of students who enroll in UNLV after having been offered admissions.

Distance from campus remains an important factor in yield; the farther away, the lower the yield. Also, higher-achieving students who have multiple offers of admission are more difficult to yield.

The national average for yields at four-year colleges and universities is 32 percent. UNLV historically has enjoyed one of the highest yields in the nation – about 60 percent – a rate that is more in line with yields at two-year institutions. As UNLV offers admission to a greater number of high-achieving students across the country, we can expect our yield to move more in line with that of other four-year universities.

Nationally, yield rates have been declining for many years. From 2011 to 2015, yield rates among private institutions declined 27 percent; among public universities, yields declined 32 percent. This decline reflects the highly challenging competitive market in which we operate. As more schools go farther afield in recruiting students, those students are applying to more institutions and receiving more offers of admission.

To combat this decline in yield, UNLV must continue to pursue applications aggressively. Building new markets takes both time and volume.

Where do we hope to see it go?

By continuing to expand our reach and refine our messaging, UNLV plans to strengthen the applicant pool. That will build an admitted students pool that is large enough and deep enough to increase enrollment.

This will require increasing our recruitment and engagement efforts in all markets, particularly out of state, with a focus on higher achieving students. Doing so will require additional staffing and resources.

What are we doing to get it there?

Admissions is engaging students from the first point of contact across all media and throughout the admissions funnel while personalizing interactions through the use of territory management teams. These teams include UNLV experts in financial aid and admissions. UNLV is implementing more off-campus outreach and holding more on-campus events that involve the entire campus community and academic colleges in particular. The recent inclusion of academic colleges via Discover Tours and their participation in other recruitment and reinforcement events is a great start, but there is more to do.

How you can help

The entire UNLV community, especially faculty and current students, can partner with admissions to engage prospective students and their parents, who are key decision-makers in the college search. Higher achieving students are in high demand, and it takes an institutionwide effort to show them that UNLV is the best choice for them.