Benchmark
What does it actually cost to enroll a student?
It takes two numbers. Taylor Wiz reports cost per submitted application, or CPSA. Your school holds the application-to-enrollment yield because your team owns documents, registration, and enrollment. Together, those numbers show the acquisition cost of an enrolled student without claiming that the marketing team completed the school's work.
The two-part math
CPSA = total marketing investment / completed applications submitted
Total marketing investment includes platform ad spend, agency or contractor fees, creative production, landing page and website work attributable to the campaign, and marketing tooling.
Applications are counted at submission, verified in our CRM, and reported by grade band. Taylor Wiz reports this number because the submitted application is where our work ends.
Cost per enrolled student = CPSA / your application-to-enrollment yield. Your school calculates the yield from its own registration and enrollment records.
Why the denominator matters more than the numerator
| Metric | What improves it | Failure mode |
|---|---|---|
| Cost per lead | Cheaper traffic | Unqualified inquiries that never tour |
| Cost per submitted application | Qualified families completing the paperwork | The metric Taylor Wiz owns |
| Cost per acceptance | Accepting more students | Acceptances that melt over the summer |
| Application-to-enrollment yield | School registration and document follow up | Only the school can verify it |
Read CPSA by grade band, not as one number
Entry grades such as kindergarten and grade 6 usually recruit at a lower cost because families are already choosing a school that year. Mid year and upper grade seats cost more because you are asking a family to switch. Averaging them hides the grades that are actually expensive.
A student who enters in kindergarten and stays through grade 5 also represents six years of per pupil funding. A grade 11 seat represents two. Retention length belongs in the same conversation as acquisition cost.
Benchmark tables pending Taylor Wiz CPSA benchmark ranges by school type, grade band, and market density will be published here once the current cycle dataset is finalized and reviewed.
Frequently asked questions
What is cost per enrolled student?
Start with cost per submitted application, or CPSA: total marketing investment divided by completed applications submitted. Then divide CPSA by your school's application-to-enrollment yield. Taylor Wiz reports CPSA. The school supplies the enrollment yield because it owns registration and enrollment.
How is CPSA different from cost per lead?
Cost per lead measures the price of an inquiry, which a school can lower by buying cheaper and less qualified traffic. CPSA measures the price of a completed, submitted application. A school can have an excellent cost per lead and a weak CPSA when families never finish the application.
What is a good cost per enrolled student?
It depends on CPSA and your school's application-to-enrollment yield. The useful comparison is the resulting acquisition cost against first year revenue per student and expected multi year revenue, not against another school's number in a different state.
Should CPSA include staff time?
Include the marketing costs you control and report them consistently. Many schools start with ad spend plus agency fees plus production, then add internal staff time once the baseline is stable. Changing the formula mid year makes the trend unreadable.
Related reading
- Paid advertising
How budget is set from seat targets.
- Parent outreach
The stage that moves CPSA most.
- Enrollment Hub
All enrollment definitions and guides.
Written by Will Rodriguez, Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Reviewed for accuracy against current school choice program rules.
- Published
- Last updated
Calculate your own CPSA with us
Bring last cycle spend and submitted application counts. We will calculate CPSA by grade band and show how to pair it with your enrollment yield.