IN BRIEF
Net Student Gain is a Pro Insights metric that helps you understand overall student growth by comparing how many brand-new students joined your program to how many students permanently exited during a selected date range. This calculation is designed to focus on long-term enrollment trends rather than short-term attendance changes.
Overview
Net Student Gain provides a high-level snapshot of student growth over time. Rather than showing raw enrollment totals, this metric highlights how your student base is changing by accounting for both incoming and departing students within a specific reporting period.
This insight is especially useful when reviewing long-term retention trends, evaluating the impact of marketing efforts, or comparing enrollment performance across different timeframes.
Deleting source data will affect the accuracy of results.
How Net Student Gain is Calculated
Pro Insights takes the following amounts into consideration when calculating Net Student Gain:
-
New Students: These are students who enrolled in your program for the first time during the selected date range.
- Re-enrollments do not count as new students.
- Exited Students: These are students who stopped attending and have not returned for at least 90 days. Pro Insights uses this 90-day threshold to avoid counting short breaks or temporary pauses as permanent exits.
- Net Gain: This is the difference between new and exited students.
Formula
Using these numbers, Pro Insights uses the following formula to calculate the Net Student Gain (expressed as a positive or negative amount):
New Students – Exited Students = [+/-] Net Student Gain
Example
If during a given month:
- 12 new students enrolled
- 7 students stopped attending, but only 4 have been gone for 90+ days
Then:
Net Student Gain = +8 (i.e., 12 – 4 = 8)
This metric helps you track long-term trends in student retention and growth. For the most accurate insights, make sure to select a date range that aligns with your enrollment patterns.
Troubleshooting & FAQs
-
Why does Net Student Gain not match my total enrollment change for the same period?
- Net Student Gain only includes brand-new students and students who have been gone for 90 days or more. Short-term withdrawals, pauses, or re-enrollments may affect total enrollment but are intentionally excluded from this metric.
-
Why are re-enrolled students not counted as new students?
- Re-enrollments represent returning students rather than new growth. Excluding them helps ensure Net Student Gain reflects true first-time student acquisition.
-
Why does Pro Insights wait 90 days before counting a student as exited?
- The 90-day window prevents temporary breaks, seasonal pauses, or missed enrollments from being misclassified as permanent exits.
-
Can deleting data affect my Net Student Gain results?
- Yes. Deleting source data can impact the accuracy of Net Student Gain calculations and may change historical results.
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