Free calculator · Industry funnels
Admissions calculator: what does one admission really cost?
Schools and colleges fill seats in a season of a few months, and fees come in by the year or the term. Follow one admission season of enquiries through counselling, campus visits and applications to fees paid. See what each admission costs against the year's marketing, what the intake is worth over the years they stay, when the fees arrive, and what it takes to fill the seats still open.
Stage definitions
Count every stage the same way each month, so the numbers mean the same thing to everyone.
- Enquiry
- Any call, WhatsApp message, form or walk-in asking about admissions.
- MQL (marketing-qualified)
- An enquiry that fits (right age, budget and distance from home) and gave a number that answers.
- SQL (sales-qualified)
- Meeting with the parents held with the parent or child, and intent to join this session confirmed.
- School tour
- They came and saw it in person.
- Application
- Form filled and the application fee paid.
- Admission
- Confirmed: the first fee is paid.
- Joined
- Still enrolled after the refund window closes.
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Full breakdown
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How this is calculated
- Each admission season month: enquiries = ad spend ÷ cost per enquiry (or ad clicks × click to enquiry rate) + enquiries from other channels and walk-ins. Admission season: enquiries = that × months in the admission season (whole months, at least 1).
- Marketing in the admission season = (ads + other channels a month) × months in the admission season. For the year = that + always-on a month × the months outside it (12 − months in the admission season).
- MQLs = enquiries × % MQL. SQLs = MQLs × % SQL. School tours = SQLs × % who visit. Applications = school tours × % who apply. Admissions = applications × % confirmed. Joined = admissions × % still enrolled after the refund window.
- Cost per enquiry, MQL, SQL, school tour, admission or child who stays = the year's marketing ÷ that count.
- First-year revenue = joined × annual fee + applications × application fee. ROAS = first-year revenue ÷ the year's marketing; break-even ROAS = first-year revenue ÷ year-one gross profit (not reachable when that is 0 or less).
- Gross profit, year one = joined × annual fee × gross margin + application fees (they have no seat cost). Most you can pay per admission = that ÷ admissions; per enquiry = that ÷ enquiries. Profit = that − the year's marketing.
- Fee value over their stay = joined × annual fee × years a child stays; one child: annual fee × years (× gross margin for gross profit). ROAS over their stay = (that + application fees) ÷ the year's marketing. Gross profit over their stay = fee value × gross margin + application fees − the year's marketing. Payback = the year's marketing ÷ (one month of their fees × gross margin), with fees spread over 12 months (0 with no marketing; never with no gross profit).
- Seats open before the admission season = seats − seats filled (never below 0). Filled after = (seats filled + joined) ÷ seats, at most 100%. Still open after = open seats − joined (never below 0). Admissions needed = open seats ÷ % still enrolled. Enquiries needed = that × enquiries ÷ admissions. Marketing needed = admissions needed × cost per admission.
- Fees arrive in 1, 3 or 12 instalments a year: at admission, joined × annual fee ÷ instalments; then the same at each instalment. Drop-outs in the refund window cost (admissions − joined) × annual fee of fee value.
Green, amber and red compare each result with the break-even your own numbers imply, never with an outside benchmark. Every starting number is an editable example, not an industry average.
Questions
About this calculator
An MQL is an enquiry that fits: the right class or course, age, budget and distance, and a number that answers. An SQL is one where a counselling call or meeting has happened and the parent or student has confirmed they want to join this session. The definitions are on the page so your team counts them the same way every month.
Some admissions leave in the refund window. Fees, payback and the seats you still need to fill are worked out on the students who stay, so the numbers are not flattered by admissions that walk away.
Seats still open ÷ the share who stay after the refund window gives the admissions you still need. Multiply that by today's cost per admission. It assumes your rates stay the same as you spend more, which is rarely exactly true, so treat it as a first estimate.
Most schools and colleges market hard for a few months (a K-12 school often from December to April, a college for a shorter window) and fees are paid by the year or the term. So spend and enquiries are entered per season month and multiplied by the months in your season, and always-on marketing in the other months is added to the year's cost. A coaching institute with monthly batches can set the season to 12 months.
No. They are example numbers so the page is not empty, and the page says so. Replace them with your own from your enquiry register and admission records.
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