Strategic consulting
The expertise you need for the unique challenges you face in higher education.



The need
for higher education consultants
Higher education is in a period of reckoning. Shifting demographics, rising educational costs, an expanding array of career pathways, and growing public scrutiny regarding the value of higher education have compelled institutions to undergo thorough reassessment, and in some instances, face closure.
Colleges and universities can no longer sit idle as competing institutions develop new market-responsive programs, enhance their services and systems, and embrace new opportunities to market and promote the value of their offerings. Regardless of size or pedigree, all institutions must approach this new frontier with an honest self assessment and a resolute commitment to innovation and creating opportunities that meet the needs of students today and tomorrow.


Our strategic consulting specializations
Our consulting services span the depth and breadth of enrollment management and marketing, providing you a comprehensive solution to address your biggest new student enrollment challenges.
Enrollment Management
- Admission Process Auditing & Strategy
- Recruitment Strategy
- CRM/Technology Strategy & Support
- Revenue Strategy & Analysis
- Data Analysis
- Strategic Planning
- Enrollment Strategy
- Yield Strategy
- Interim/Fractional Leadership
Marketing
- Brand Strategy & Awareness
- Growth Strategy
- Competitor Analysis
- Market Research
- Digital Advertising Strategy
- Website Strategy and Development
- Fractional CMO
Organizational Development
- Coaching
- Recruitment & Sales
- Issue Processing Facilitation
- Training Team Management
- Leadership Development
- Organizational Strategy & Staff Deployment
- Professional Development

Tony Fraga
Chief Executive Officer
-
Leadership Development
-
Marketing Strategy
-
Enrollment & Recruitment Strategy
-
CRM/Technology Strategy
-
Content Strategy
-
Nonprofit Fundraising & Donor Development
-
Issue Processing

Jamie Gleason
Executive Vice President of Client Success
-
Alumni Relations
-
Marketing Strategy
-
Talent and Culture Development
-
Undergraduate Enrollment Management
-
Faith-Based Higher Education
-
Non-Profit Boards and Organizations

Marcus Hanscom
Director of Enrollment Marketing
-
Admission & Recruitment Strategy
-
Enrollment Aid & Modeling
-
Graduate Enrollment Management
-
Marketing Strategy
-
Operations and Technology
-
Strategic Enrollment Management Planning

Melanie Trice
Creative Marketing Director
-
Brand Strategy
-
Content Strategy
-
Creative Direction
-
Market Research
-
Strategic Communication
-
Video Development & Production

Shane Kehl
Executive Vice President of Growth
-
Growth Strategy
-
Digital Marketing
-
AI Implementation & Execution
-
Video Development
-
Innovative Approaches

Our approach to higher ed consulting
Direct Development’s higher education consultants have decades of experience working with – and in – public and private universities large and small. Because we’ve been there, we know the challenges you’re facing as we’ve faced them ourselves.
True to our values as a company, our work focuses on developing a custom-tailored approach to your institution’s needs while creating sustainable solutions that enable you to connect with right-fit students who will enroll, retain, and graduate. And we take sustainability to heart: not only does our work focus on strategies that can withstand the test of time, but it also drives results affordably and efficiently. After all, outspending your competition isn’t a long-term strategy.
Put simply — we help Davids slay their Goliaths.
Direct Development has been a NAGAP partner for many years, supporting not just the association but the GEM community as a whole ... Simply put, DD understands the needs of graduate enrollment professionals and is helping Davids beat Goliaths every day!
Keith Ramsdell
Ashland University