Most boards and CFOs track one number obsessively in enrollment conversations:
The discount rate.
But Kevin Dyerly argues that focusing on that number can lead institutions to make the wrong decisions. Kevin has a unique perspective on this problem. After eight years leading enrollment at the University of Redlands, he crossed the hall to become the university’s Chief Financial Officer in 2020. During his time in finance, he managed a pandemic-era deficit, helped oversee multiple institutional acquisitions, and saw firsthand how financial decisions actually get made at the cabinet level.
Three years later, he returned to enrollment with a dramatically different perspective.
In this episode of The VineDown, Kevin explains why the real number institutions should optimize is **net tuition revenue**, not discount rate and why the two metrics can sometimes move in opposite directions.
Emily and Kevin explore:
- The difference between optimizing discount rate vs net tuition revenue
- Why reducing financial aid can actually decrease institutional revenue
- How enrollment leaders can tell better data stories to cabinets and boards
- The rise of mergers and acquisitions as survival strategies for private colleges
- Why Kevin believes enrollment leaders need to think more like CFOs
- And how stepping away from enrollment for three years helped him rediscover his motivation for the work
For anyone working in enrollment leadership, finance, or institutional strategy, this conversation offers a rare look at how the numbers (and the decisions behind them) actually work.
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