Enter five numbers from your admissions cycle — inquiries, applications, admits, deposits, and enrolled — and see every conversion rate in your funnel, with the formula printed beside each one. Free, no account required, and nothing you enter is stored.
By Margy Saben · Reviewed by Dave Saben
- Inquiry → Application rate (applications ÷ inquiries)
- —
- Application → Admit rate (admits ÷ applications)
- —
- Admit → Deposit (yield) rate (deposits ÷ admits)
- —
- Deposit → Enrolled (melt-adjusted) rate (enrolled ÷ deposits)
- —
- Overall Inquiry → Enrolled rate (enrolled ÷ inquiries)
- —
- Students needed at the top of the funnel per enrolled student (rounded 1 ÷ (enrolled ÷ inquiries))
- —
These are your institution's own rates computed from the numbers you entered. Funnel benchmarks vary widely by institution type, selectivity, and program mix — compare against your own prior cycles first. The Enrollment Growth Operating System treats these five conversion points as the primary levers of enrollment planning.
How this works.
Each rate is simple division over the two adjacent funnel stages, and the formula is printed beside every output so the arithmetic is fully transparent: applications ÷ inquiries, admits ÷ applications, deposits ÷ admits, enrolled ÷ deposits, and enrolled ÷ inquiries for the overall rate. The final number — students needed at the top of the funnel per enrolled student — is the rounded reciprocal of the overall rate.
All computation happens in your browser. No account is required, and nothing you enter is stored unless you submit the conversation form at the end of the page.
Frequently Asked Questions.
Which conversion rates does the calculator produce?
Five rates plus one planning number: inquiry-to-application, application-to-admit, admit-to-deposit (yield), deposit-to-enrolled (melt-adjusted), the overall inquiry-to-enrolled rate, and the number of students needed at the top of the funnel per enrolled student.
Why are there no benchmark comparisons on this page?
Funnel benchmarks vary widely by institution type, selectivity, and program mix, so a single comparison number is more likely to mislead than help. The most reliable comparison is your own institution across prior cycles.
What is a melt-adjusted rate?
The deposit-to-enrolled rate captures summer melt: the share of deposited students who actually arrive. Computing it separately from yield shows whether losses happen before or after the deposit.
Schedule a Strategy Conversation.
Bring the decision you're weighing. You'll leave with a sharper version of it — whether or not we ever work together.
Educational market information, not professional advice. Educated Guess Ventures publishes general education-market research and operating frameworks. Nothing on this page is investment, legal, accounting, or tax advice, an offer or solicitation regarding any security, or a recommendation concerning any specific company or transaction. Figures cited are drawn from named public sources or EGV's own disclosed methodology and may not apply to your situation.