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Forecasting

enrollment and tuition forecasting

Planting a Tree

I planted a tree in our back yard as part of an elementary school project. In the first year I made sure it had appropriate water, soil, and enough light. But I could barely see its early growth. Similarly, changes in higher education take time to ripple through the system.

Scenarios vs. Predictions

Relying only on predictions risks locking institutions into a false sense of security. Scenarios, on the other hand, open up conversations about resilience, trade-offs, and strategic agility.

The Wisdom of the Crowd in Enrolment Forecasting

The crowd sees signals that may not show up in your data systems—early student concerns, housing bottlenecks, employer demand shifts. Together, they create a more balanced view of the future.

AI-Cademy Canada: Five Takeaways on AI in Higher Education

AI is changing everything in higher education, but that doesn’t mean every institution needs to dive in headfirst. Thoughtful, strategic adoption is key. At Plaid Analytics, we’re working with universities to ensure AI is useful, ethical, and impactful.

Announcing Course Forecast

Announcing Course Forecast: an innovative tool that brings multi-year, scenario-based planning capabilities to course offerings. Designed to help institutions stay agile, Course Forecast provides key insights that support efficient, data-driven decisions in a dynamic enrolment landscape.

Brace for Impact: Projecting International Enrolment Declines in Atlantic Canadian Universities

The ripple effects of international enrolment declines will be felt across budgets, programming, and staffing. Yet, hard times have often been the catalyst for strategic reinvention.

Navigating Program Closure in an Era of Budget Cuts

Conducting analysis in advance ensures that program closure decisions are strategic, transparent, and aligned with the institution's long-term goals. It helps academic leaders make data-informed choices, mitigate risks, and optimize resources while maintaining quality and supporting student success.

Is New Brunswick Being Shortchanged on International Student Allocation?

With major changes to Canada’s international student visa allocation rules beginning this year, it has been an exciting/nerve-wracking period for enrolment planning in Canada. This analysis suggests New Brunswick is being short-changed on allocations relative to their share of the population.

Modelling Impacts of International Study Permit Changes in Canada

Since summer, the Canadian federal government has been musing about cutting back on new international student study permits. Well, it finally happened. This post discusses some of the potential impacts, and provides an forecast of how enrolments will change as a result of this new policy.

Canada Considering Cap on International Enrolments. What's the Impact?

If I were a Provost, I'd be asking my Institutional Research team to game out what these scenarios might look like compared to our current plans. Here's what we were expecting at Plaid University: