How Arbol is helping enrollment offices make their fall 2026 class

Admissions teams don’t need a reminder that cost and affordability are driving enrollment decisions. You’re seeing it play out right now.

Award letters are out. Comparisons are happening. And between now and the start of the fall semester, a yet-to-be-determined percentage of admitted students will decide not to enroll.

These days, families often make that decision because they took the information available to them – acceptance and aid letters which offer static “net cost” estimates – and went with the perceived best bang for their buck.

But everyone is relying on an outdated model: acceptance and aid letters whic offer static “net cost” estimates. This information cedes control over important information around cost and affordability.

It’s time to move past static numbers and median costs. It’s time to show consumers you mean business by giving them tools to truly understand the decision they’re making.

The gap between an award and a decision

The traditional process ends too early. Students receive an award letter with an estimated net cost and are left to figure out the rest on their own.

What that letter doesn’t do is help them understand:

• Which costs are fixed and which are controllable
  
  
• How housing, meals, and credit load affect affordability
  
  
• What “affordability” actually looks like month-to-month
  
  
• Which funding options exist beyond the award itself
  
  
• How to close the remaining gap with a realistic plan

Instead, families fill in the blanks with assumptions, anxiety, and uncertainty. In a competitive market, that uncertainty becomes a yield problem.

How Arbol Customers Approach This Differently

Arbol customers extend the affordability conversation beyond the award letter.

Admitted students are invited into an Arbol experience where their financial aid data is pre-loaded.

From there, they can see the full cost of attendance and actively explore the decisions that shape it. That includes housing options, meal plans, credit load, work income, and additional funding opportunities that never appear in the award letter itself.

The goal isn’t to change the offer. It’s to help students understand how to make it work and how many post-admittance decisions determine the actual cost of higher ed.

What starts as a net cost estimate becomes an affordability plan.

A high-impact touchdown for admissions and financial aid teams

This creates a new, practical touchpoint during enrollment season.

Students can self-serve and build confidence. Admissions and financial aid teams can see who is engaging, who is stuck, and where questions remain. That insight makes follow-up more targeted and more meaningful.

Instead of broad melt campaigns and generic reminders, teams can follow up with context:

“I saw you were exploring housing options. Want to walk through what that means for your affordability plan?”

That’s a fundamentally different type of outreach. And it’s the kind that builds trust.

How it works

Arbol fits into the enrollment process you already run. It simply extends the affordability conversation beyond the award letter, at the exact moment when uncertainty leads to melt.

Here’s what it looks like:

Financial aid data is pre-loaded: This means students don’t have to interpret the award letter on their own or manually enter information to understand what they were offered.

Students are guided into an affordability planning experience: Arbol plugs into your post-award communications, giving students a next step that actually helps them make a decision. Instead of simply asking families to “review their offer and deposit,” you’re giving them a tool to understand the offer and what comes next.

Students explore the decisions that determine real cost: Inside Arbol, students can see the full cost of attendance and actively explore the choices that shape affordability. Those include housing options, meal plans, credit load, work income and additional funding opportunities.

What starts as a net cost estimate becomes an affordability plan they can commit to with confidence.

Making the class and setting up retention

When students commit with a plan in hand, the benefits extend beyond enrollment. They arrive better prepared, revisit the same plan during orientation, and carry it forward into their first year.

That means:

• fewer “surprise” financial issues in the first semester
  
  
• fewer reactive escalations
  
  
• fewer preventable holds
  
  
• better early persistence

For enrollment leaders under pressure to make their class, this isn’t a new process. It’s a smarter extension of the one you already run.

Closing the net cost gap isn’t about lowering net price.

 It’s about helping students understand affordability well enough to say yes.

That’s where Arbol fits.

Outcomes

For admissions teams under pressure to make their class, the biggest value here is simple: fewer students walk away because affordability feels unclear.

When admitted students are given tools to build clarity, institutions typically see:

Enrollment: Higher conversion from students who are unsure about affordability and reduced affordability-driven melt during the summer decision window.

Operations: Outreach based on real engagement and friction points, and better visibility into the reasons why prospective students are making choices.

Students: Increased confidence, less financial-driven stress and better preparedness heading into the first semester.

Want to learn more? Email David Gonzalez at david@growarbol.com for a demo that showcases the Arbol experience, affordability plan workflow and how enrollment teams use data-based insight to drive deposits and reduce melt.