As part of Portland State University’s Bridge to the Future initiative, Immediate Net Revenue Growth is a crucial pillar that will increase revenue without significant cost increases.
We are targeting $1 to $3 million in immediate new revenue to help close the budget deficit.
Objectives of Immediate Growth in Revenue
The Immediate Growth in Revenue strategy is designed to align our enrollment practices with the needs of students and the university’s financial goals. Key objectives include:
- New Enrollment/Course Management: Utilizing existing resources, identify areas to expand and optimize enrollment ratios by increasing fill rates and adding course capacity to programs that are restrained but are in high demand.
- Improving Retention: Support a focus on retention and student outcomes that align with our strategic plan and can have a positive impact on our revenue.Target increases can be captured as revenue growth in the financial sustainability plan.
- Reinventing Summer Term: Enhance revenue streams for PSU by leveraging summer as a recruitment tool, facilitate degree completion, and support a focused and more enriched student experience.
Steps to Achieve Immediate Revenue Growth
- Identify Immediate Capacity Needs: Identify in demand programs that need additional capacity and show evidence that revenue will be realized immediately as a result.
- Increase Capacity in High Demand Programs: Raise caps on identified programs or classes and carry out strategies to fill in-demand classes that have empty seats.
- Carry out actions laid out in PSU’s Student Success Strategy: Estimated revenue increases will be based on the goals outlined in the Student Success Strategy. Changes to the financial impact will be evaluated as we monitor term-to-term persistence.
- Understand Key Student Markets for Summer: Explore and analyze key student markets for summer programs and understand barriers to enrollment that can be addressed immediately.
- Prioritize Summer Improvements: Identify and prioritize focus areas for improving summer enrollment and removing barriers to enrollment.
Decision-Making Process and Responsibility
- Course Management: Deans and department chairs will identify programs that need additional capacity and will work with faculty to increase capacity with few additional resources. They will need to show evidence that the revenue will be realized (e.g. history of fill rates). The Provost will approve these estimates as part of financial sustainability targets.
- Improving Retention: All faculty and staff play an important role in supporting students and improving retention. The Student Success team monitors persistence and works with the Deans and department chairs on opportunities for improvements within and outside of the classroom.
- Reinventing Summer: Deans will collaborate with the Academic Leadership Team and partner with other internal and external experts to identify, test, and implement change ideas.