Direct Admissions, Faith-Based Growth, and Engineering Enrollment Wins | James Steen, HCU

What if the enrollment KPI you've been optimizing for is the wrong one? James Steen, VP of Enrollment, Admissions, and Marketing at Houston Christian University, joins host Gjergj Dollani on The Enrollment Clinic to challenge some of the field's most deeply held assumptions — and share what's actually driving growth at HCU. With 33 years in higher education enrollment, James breaks down: Direct admissions as both a recruitment strategy and a brand awareness play — and why lower yield rates can coexist with enrollment growth How HCU nearly doubled its engineering program in a single year through a transformational donor partnership Aligning admissions and marketing KPIs under one leadership structure when their timelines rarely match Growing a faith-based institution in an era when many are closing — and what HCU's diverse, majority-Hispanic student body says about the future of Christian higher ed Why 75-80% of online students live within 150 miles of campus — and what that means for your recruitment strategy Preparing students for an AI-disrupted workforce by launching new programs fast enough to matter Whether you're navigating the demographic cliff, rethinking your funnel metrics, or leading enrollment at a tuition-dependent institution, this conversation delivers hard-won perspective from someone who's been doing it since before the internet existed.