Student Lifecycle Management for a Research University
Education
What They Were Facing
Westfield, a mid-size research university with 18,000 students, operated separate systems for admissions, student services, advising, and alumni relations. Prospective students received inconsistent communications across departments, academic advisors had no visibility into students' engagement or risk indicators, and alumni relations relied on a 15-year-old donor database. The university's enrolment yield had declined three consecutive years, and first-year retention was below peer benchmarks.
How We Solved It
AQBEE implemented Education Cloud across the full student lifecycle — from recruitment and admissions through enrolment, student success, and alumni engagement. Einstein AI was deployed to predict enrolment yield probability for admitted students, enabling the admissions team to focus yield efforts on undecided students. A student success early alert system used Einstein Discovery to identify at-risk students based on LMS engagement, financial aid status, and academic performance, triggering automated advisor notifications and support resource referrals. Experience Cloud powered a unified student portal for registration, academic planning, financial aid, and campus services. The alumni team received a modern advancement platform with AI-driven major gift propensity scoring and integrated event management.
The Impact
Freshmen enrolment yield improved by 9 percentage points in the first admissions cycle through AI-driven targeted yield campaigns.
First-to-second year retention rate improved from 81% to 88.4% with the early alert system identifying and supporting at-risk students proactively.
Annual fund giving increased 34% driven by AI-powered donor segmentation and personalised multi-channel outreach campaigns.
94% of enrolled students actively use the Experience Cloud portal for registration, advising, and campus services — up from 41% with the previous system.
“AQBEE understood that in higher education, every touchpoint matters — from the first enquiry email to the 25th reunion gift. The early alert system alone has changed the game for our retention efforts. When an advisor gets a notification that a first-generation student stopped attending class and has an outstanding financial balance, they can intervene the same day. That is transformative.”
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