A model for university enrollment planning

The expansion to year-round university operation by the addition of a summer term makes enrollment planning both more complex and more critical. Unless the summer term's effects on enrollment levels in the conventional terms are controlled, the potential financial benefits from year-round university operation can be greatly diminished. A mathematical programming model is developed to determine the admissions policies necessary to maintain optimal enrollment levels in all terms in the academic year. The model is used to analyze admission policies for Yale University under conventional (i.e. two-term) operation, and with the proposed summer term.