CASE STUDY: Evangelical Graduate Seminary
How Magellan Helped an Evangelical Graduate Seminary Grow Enrollment in a Flat Seminary Market
The client’s partnership with Magellan began with a clear goal: sustainable enrollment growth. The Magellan team leveraged market strategy, performance marketing, and full-funnel analysis to help the seminary overcome market challenges and achieve their vision. Through strategic partnership with Magellan, the client reached prospective students with stronger messages and invested resources more effectively. They also seized opportunities to improve the student journey from inquiry through enrollment.
consecutive terms of enrollment growth
%
summer enrollment growth, exceeding year-over-year expectations
Programs supported by Magellan marketing grew while others declined
%
higher enrollment rate among prospects exposed to programmatic advertising
The Challenge
The seminary had experienced 15 years of enrollment decline and was competing for students in a relatively flat seminary market. From 2021 to 2025, degree enrollment at ATS member schools rose only 1.4%, while Master of Divinity program enrollment declined 8.5%. In order to grow, this client needed to differentiate from other seminaries while also reaching prospective students who were uncertain about pursuing theological education.
This seminary needed to communicate its value and pricing clearly while centering the thoughtful, purpose-driven voice that defines its brand. A long enrollment cycle added another challenge: friction early in the process could impede prospective students' progress for months.
The Partnership
Magellan used market insight to shape campaign strategy across paid search, social media, and programmatic display. The team refined audience targeting, campaign budgets, and creative messaging, and they tracked performance from initial inquiry through application and enrollment.
Creative testing helped identify the messaging that resonated best with prospective students. The most promising campaigns centered on purpose, the relevance of seminary education, and practical preparation for ministry. The seminary's focus on preparing women for ministry also emerged as a leading performer. When its distinct institutional strengths were clearly connected with top questions from prospective students, results followed.
The partnership extended beyond lead generation. Magellan also analyzed the entire student purchasing journey, from inquiry to census date from the first term. The team also reviewed ongoing student support from matriculation to graduation. Analysis of factors such as application timelines, enrollment lag, attribution gaps, and the post-inquiry experience identified key points of friction for prospective students. These findings led to a focused plan for improving decision support and guiding more interested students to move forward. Improvement involved streamlining the post-acceptance student journey by creating alignment among all departments involved.
The Results
The seminary achieved four consecutive terms of enrollment growth, and summer enrollment growth of 94% exceeded year-over-year expectations. Programs receiving active marketing support with Magellan outperformed those without it.
Targeted advertising proved key across the prospective student journey. Among the records analyzed, students who were served an ad applied at a rate of 23.55%, compared with 15.09% among those who were not. Enrollment rates were 6.47% and 2.21%, respectively.
Magellan's work also established a clearer picture of campaign quality. Brand search emerged as the strongest source of applications and enrollments. In addition, creative and video analysis revealed the messages that best connected the client's programs to prospective students’ purposes and goals.
A Clearer Path to Continued Growth
The client institution enters its next stage of growth with stronger campaign intelligence and a practical plan to improve the prospective student experience. Earlier communication about value, clearer program differentiation, and a more streamlined path to inquiry can help this school effectively convert existing interest.
The Magellan partnership has led to a disciplined model for market competition—supporting enrollment growth while preserving the client’s distinctive value and voice.