ACT Information Manager (AIM) Offers Colleges Enrollment Management Service With a Difference

March 31, 2004

IOWA CITY, Iowa—ACT, Inc. has announced the launch of the ACT Information Manager (AIM™), a database software tool designed to assist colleges and universities in enrollment management. The database provides extensive information that will not only help colleges attract desirable prospective students but also help retain students after they have enrolled and assist students in reaching their goals.

AIM uses data collected from the ACT Assessment, the company's college entrance and placement exam taken each year by more than a million graduating high school seniors. It gives colleges complete and convenient access to the ACT electronic records of those student test-takers who have shared their information with the institution as part of the college search and selection process.

"AIM provided our campus with the ability to search for student populations in a more efficient and sophisticated manner and opened our eyes to the vast amount of information available from ACT," said Beverly Schenkel, dean of enrollment management at Northwest Missouri State University, who was involved in an AIM pilot program. "It has lead to an increased use of the information for both the prospective and enrolled student populations, which allows us to personalize our approach."

AIM allows colleges to analyze a wide variety of information about prospective and current students, including enrollment preferences, score results, prediction data, student profile data, and interest inventory results. Before AIM, this information was often difficult to efficiently use because campuses lacked a tool to view, manipulate, and share the data.

The service gives admissions professionals a valuable overview of prospective students, including their interests, needs, abilities, and enrollment preferences. The information helps colleges target and individualize their recruitment efforts as well as plan recruitment travel more efficiently by allowing colleges to focus on students who are good prospects for their school.

Information from AIM is useful to colleges even after students have enrolled, aiding in student retention and degree completion. College counselors, advisors, and activities coordinators can use the detailed information about students in their efforts to keep them on track toward meeting their goals, get them involved in activities, and keep them satisfied with school.

"Our purpose with AIM is to get as much usable information into the hands of colleges as we can," said Jon Erickson, ACT's vice president for educational services. "AIM turns data from ACT Assessment student records into information that institutions can act on, not only to guide their recruitment efforts, but also to help their current students achieve success."

The AIM program is offered at a very affordable price. An unlimited license for a campus costs $600, and renewals are $400 each year.

"We tried to keep the cost of AIM low because we want colleges to benefit from the ACT database and use it to help students achieve their goals," said Erickson.