David J.

Lang, PhD

11/21/2015
2016 Masters Application Fee Waivers

In March of 2015, a masters degree application fee waiver was offered to

graduating seniors at the University at Buffalo for fall 2015 admission. Approval to
subsidize application fee revenue out of the graduate enrollment budget was
granted to drive up the number of submitted masters applications from UB seniors.
Even though the initiative started late in the fall 2015 admissions cycle we did
convert 58% of UB seniors who submitted their masters application for formal
review with a waiver which was greater than the conversion rate of their WNY and
students across NYS counterparts: 45% and 32%, respectively. The following
metrics demonstrate the impact of the 2015 masters degree application fee waiver
for graduating students at UB:
Point in Funnel
Total Submitted Waivers
Waivers for Eligible Programs

Numbe
r
42
34

Percentage
80.9% eligibility rate

Corresponding App in GrAdMIT

25

73.5% app start rate (of 34)

Submitted App for Formal Review

19

76% app submission rate (of 25)

Accepted to Program

16

Confirmed Acceptance

13

Registered

11

Rejected or Waitlisted or Deferred

Incomplete Apps

$
1,425
$
130

84.2% acceptance rate (of 19 formal

submits)
81.3% yield rate (of 16 accepts)
84.6% matriculated (of 13
confirmations)
15.8% reject rate (of 19 formal submits)
24% incomplete rate (of 25 apps started)

Fee revenue forfeit

Cost per registered student

The only added expense to covering the lost application fee revenue was $150 for
posters that were displayed across campus to promote students submission of the
online waiver request (see page 3 to view the fee waiver posters and the volume of
corresponding page views generated). Consequently, the ROI of this initiative can
be calculated by subtracting the cost of the 2015 pilot initiative ($1,425 + $150 =
$1,575) from the estimated tuition revenue attributed to the 11 students who are
currently enrolled. Given the universitys estimate of $8,500 in tuition revenue from
a non-funded masters degree student, the anticipated ROI of last years initiative to
the university is well over $90k (assuming all 11 fee waiver students are retained
and complete their respective degree program).
The primary goal in 2016 is to increase the overall number of masters degree
applications with a particular emphasis on UB seniors. To complement our on
campus marketing efforts to UB seniors and to attract more in-state applicants from
University at Buffalo

David J. Lang, PhD

11/21/2015

outside of the university, we have actively recruited across NYS this fall to increase
the overall number of masters degree applications. An application fee waiver is
expected to increase the number of submitted applications for formal review among
qualified students. Also, our application completion percentage typically hovers
around 73% which would potentially be impacted by offering a more comprehensive
application fee waiver initiative in 2016 to all in-state masters degree applicants.
Approval and funding to offer a more comprehensive and timely initiative will
provide the necessary data to fully assess the impact of an application fee waiver
on in-state masters degree applicant behavior. I formally request $22,500 in onetime funds to offer a maximum of 300 masters degree application fee waivers to
applicants in the 3 geographic categories outlined above who also have at least a
3.0 overall GPA. If approved, we would follow up with all the inquiries collected
during our recruitment travels this fall and offer each potential applicant an
application fee waiver should they meet the 3.0 GPA requirement and submit for
formal review by the established departmental deadlines. Thus, only those who
inquired with us and/or attended some type of information session offered to date
will be initially notified of the fall 2016 application fee waiver.
This proposal provides the opportunity for us to routinely stay in contact with
inquiries throughout the fall 2016 cycle to fully leverage the availability of
application fee waivers and to increase masters student enrollment next fall. There
were 107, 128, and 91 submitted applications for formal review by UB seniors,
western NYers, and students across NYS, respectively. Since 58% of those who
submitted for formal review with an application fee waiver enrolled in 2015, the
2016 ROI could be calculated by subtracting $22,500 for 300 waivers from 175+
students x $8,500 in tuition revenue to the university. However, we would expect to
enroll many of these students in 2016 without offering an application fee waiver.
Consequently, a more realistic ROI will be calculated by the number of additional
masters students enrolled in 2016 compared to 2015 in these three categories
multiplied by the estimated $8,500 in tuition revenue per student.
It will only take 3 additional masters students in 2016 to generate enough tuition
revenue to pay for the requested one-time funds. Moreover, this increased budget
request has the potential to provide value to the university beyond tuition revenue.
A comprehensive application fee waiver is representative of the universitys
willingness to remove barriers to graduate school and provides in-state students
with an incentive to pursue an advanced degree at UB. As a public institution, UB
may capitalize on distinguishing in-state students in this regard by being the first
SUNY campus to provide such comprehensive support at the masters degree level.
The application fee waiver initiative also has the potential to increase the quality of
incoming masters students as waivers will only be issued to applicants with
sufficient undergraduate GPAs which may ultimately have a positive impact on
masters degree student retention and completion.

University at Buffalo

David J. Lang, PhD

11/21/2015
Application Fee Waiver Posters:
A business decision was made to pilot an application fee waiver for current UB
undergraduates. Posters were deployed across campus along the major travel routes of our
target audience. A unique URL was used on this poster (www.cas.buffalo.edu/staylonger)
which directed visitors to a unique page dedicated to the fee waiver.

OBJECTIVE: Create awareness and advertise the application fee waiver. A unique vanity URL
was tracked.
MEASUREMENT TIMEFRAME: March to August 1, 2015
Web Traffic from vanity URL:

University at Buffalo

David J. Lang, PhD

University at Buffalo

11/21/2015