This workshop will explore key strategies for using financial aid to strengthen your admissions process and enrollment outcomes. Among many topics, the session will cover:
Types of Financial Aid and Awarding Strategies: Different approaches that institutions take - Merit Based, Need Based, Meeting Full Demonstrated Need, "Gapping" need - lead to different reactions and outcomes.
The Impact of Merit Scholarships: Understanding how merit-based awards can influence enrollment decisions and attract the students you need most.
Addressing Unmet Need as a Priority: Strategies for identifying and addressing unmet financial need to ensure access and enrollment for students who might not otherwise be able to afford your school.
The Impact of Financial Aid on Improving Yield: Best practices for using financial aid packages to increase yield, ensuring more admitted students ultimately enroll.
Colby Carson
Director of Admissions, Eastman School of Music | University of Rochester
Robert Borden
President of BFE Blueprint & Co-Creator of the Blueprint App
Colby Carson is the Director of Admissions at the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester. Prior to Eastman, he was Dean of Admission and Financial Aid for Interlochen Arts Academy. He previously held leadership roles in music admissions at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music. He began his admissions career as an Assistant Director of Admissions at The Juilliard School. Active in the field, Colby serves as Secretary on the Board of Directors for the Music Admissions Roundtable, a professional network promoting best practices in music admissions.
He holds a doctorate in Higher Education Management from the University of Pittsburgh, where his research explored the impact of performance-merit-based scholarships on music student recruitment and yield. Colby earned a Master of Arts in Arts Administration from the Florida State University College of Music. Before returning to FSU, where he also received a Bachelor of Music in Choral Music Education, he taught high school chorus in Orlando, Florida.
Robert Borden, MSEd, is the President of BFE Blueprint, an enrollment consulting firm. He is also currently serving as the Associate Dean of Enrollment at the Tianjin Juilliard School. He has spent more than two decades working in college enrollment, holding the posts of Vice President of Enrollment at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), Vice President of Enrollment at the Cleveland Institute of Art, and various enrollment capacities at the Eastman School of Music and Rochester Institute of Technology's National Technical Institute for the Deaf.
Now, in his work for BFE Blueprint, he is able to use his years of knowledge and expertise in the area of visual and performing arts to counsel institutions on strategies to reach their enrollment goals.
Robert earned his undergraduate degree in music education at DePauw University and obtained his MS Ed. in Higher Ed Administration from Miami University of Ohio.
Cost for the workshop: $50