Overview
The Funnel Dashboard logs students' paths through your enrollment funnel over time. Explore funnel stages by their point-in-time performance and compare funnel stages by various dimensions.
Accessing the Dashboard
The Funnel dashboard can be found via the Insights sub-menu under Data + Automations dropdown in the top navigation. Hover over "Insights" at the top of the menu and select "Funnel" from the Insights menu.
Dashboard Features
The Funnel dashboard displays term-over-term and year-over-year comparisons, as well as a table view of funnel stages grouped by a dimension of your choosing.
Global Controls
The Funnel dashboard can be filtered and controlled in several ways. Find the global controls at the top of each tab. These global controls affect each tab. Filters applied on one tab will carry over to the others.
Global controls feature filters for major, territory and segment. Select one or many majors and territories and one segment at a time.
Select the five funnel stages you wish to focus on using the funnel stage controls. These will customize the five key performance indicators (KPIs) to display the funnel stages most important to you. KPIs can be found at the top of the Comparison Term and Comparison Year tab. Funnel stages are based on Milestones.
Segment Filter
The Funnel dashboard can only be filtered by certain dimensions by default. The segment filter is a great way to filter the report by dimensions that matter to you. Create a segment in the People module, and set it as a calculated segment.
Please allow 24 hours for new calculated segments to appear and filter correctly in Insights.
More on using segments and Insights together.
Tabs
The Funnel Dashboard is organized by three tabs. The first two compare funnel stages period over period, by term and then by year. The third tab is a large table, comparing funnel stages by a time aggregation and dimension of your choosing.
Comparison Term Tab
The Period-over-Period, and multi-period comparison of funnel stages, aggregated by term.
Funnel stages are counted for the active term if they occur before the selected point-in-time. Funnel stages are counted for the prior term if they occurred before the corresponding point-in-time relative to the prior term.
Visualization Sections:
Point-in-Time Comparison
Point-in-Time Comparison
Features
Big blue numbers indicate the count the student who have reached a particular funnel stage in the active term.
The arrow indicates if the active term count is greater or less than the prior term.
Funnel stage conversion rate and comparison to prior term are also calculated.
Unique Controls
Active Term: The main term.
Prior Term: The comparison term.
Point-in-Time: The date that funnel stages should be counted relative to. The maximum date a funnel stage may have occurred at to be counted in the Active term.
Multiterm Comparison
Multiterm Comparison
Features
A line chart shows cumulative Milestones for each comparison term by week. Application Submissions is the default Milestone. Weeks are shown as weeks until or since the term start date.
A horizontal bar chart shows cumulative Milestones for each term.
A horizontal stacked bar chart shows student types for the selected Milestone by term.
Unique Controls
Comparison Milestone: The Milestone type that each visualization will focus on.
Comparison Terms: The terms that each visualization will focus on.
Comparison Year Tab
Period over Period, and multi-period comparison of funnel stages, aggregated by academic year.
Funnel stages are counted for the active year if they occur before the selected point-in-time. Funnel stages are counted for the prior year if they occured before the corresponding point-in-time relative to the prior year.
Visualization Sections:
Point-in-Time Year Comparison
Point-in-Time Year Comparison
Features
Big blue numbers indicate the count the student who have reached a particular funnel stage in the active academic year.
The arrow indicates if the active term count is greater or less than the prior year.
Funnel stage conversion rate and comparison to prior year are also calculated.
Unique Controls
Active Year: The main year.
Prior Year: The comparison year.
Point-in-Time: The date that funnel stages should be counted relative to. The maximum date a funnel stage may have occurred at to be counted in the Active year.
Multiyear Comparison
Multiyear Comparison
Features
A line chart shows cumulative Milestones for each comparison year by week. Application Submissions is the default Milestone. Weeks are shown as weeks until or since the academic year start date*.
A horizontal bar chart shows cumulative Milestones for each term.
A horizontal stacked bar chart shows student types for the selected Milestone by term.
Unique Controls
Comparison Milestone: The Milestone type that each visualization will focus on.
Comparison Terms: The terms that each visualization will focus on.
*The Academic Year Start Date is the earliest term start date within an academic year.
Table Tab
A table view of funnel stages by time aggregation and dimension.
Visualization Sections:
Table
Table
Features
A large, exportable table showing funnel stages and conversion rates between stages.
Stages are grouped by a time aggregation and dimension of your choosing.
Unique Controls
Aggregation: The time aggregation you wish to structure the table. Options are Term or Year.
Dimension: The dimension that funnel stages will be grouped by. Options are Address City, Address State, Citizenship, Engagement Score, Gender, Major and Territory.
Dashboard Data
The funnel data model is structured as a table, with one row per student per funnel. A funnel is defined by Milestones that are connected by a single term. This means that a student may appear in multiple rows, one for each of the funnels they have started (or terms they have Milestones for).
If a student has more than one Milestone of the same type per term, the most recent Milestone is used for that Milestone's date in the funnel. For example, if a student has two Date of Inquiry Milestones, the Milestone with the most recent date will be used as the Prospect date for that term.
Funnel stages are based on Milestones, and Conversion Rates are the transitions between Milestones. Below is a table of funnel stages, their corresponding Milestones, and Conversion Rates:
Milestones
Funnel Stage | Milestone |
Suspect | Created Date |
Prospect | Date of Inquiry |
Application Starts | Application Start Date |
Application Completions | Application Complete Date |
Application Submissions | Application Submit Date |
Withdrawal Applicants | Withdrawal Date |
Admits | Admitted Date |
Admitted Conditionals | Conditional Admitted Date |
Withdrawal Admits | Withdrawal Date |
Denies | Deny Date |
Deposits | Deposited Date |
Withdrawal Deposits | Withdrawal Date |
Enrolled | Enrolled Date |
Conversion Rates
Conversion Rate | Calculation |
Inquiry Rate | sum(Prospects) / sum(Suspects) |
Application Start Rate | sum(Application Starts) / sum(Prospects) |
Application Completion Rate | sum(Application Completes) / sum (Application Starts) |
Application Rate | sum(Application Submits) / sum(Prospects) |
Admit Rate | sum(Admits) / sum(Application Submits) |
Admit Conditional Rate | sum(Admit Conditionals) / sum(Application Submits) |
Denied Rate | sum(Denies) / sum(Application Submits) |
Deposit Rate | sum(Deposits) / ( sum (Admits) + sum(Admit Conditionals) ) |
Capture Rate | sum(Enrolled) / sum(Deposits) |
Admit Yield Rate | sum(Enrolled) / ( sum(Admits) + sum(Admit Conditionals) ) |
Intelligent Reporting
Some Milestones may not be associated with a Term or Major. Insights will attempt to infer a Term or Major using active term and active major. Additionally, the Prospect (Date of Inquiry) Milestone will consider Intended Term and Intended Major.
Data Best Practices
The funnel data model relies heavily on Milestone types, Milestone dates, Term Start Dates and Term Academic Year. While Milestone types and dates are captured automatically within Element, we strongly recommend that you.
Enter Term Start Dates and Term Academic Years to your Terms in Data Sources.
Map Milestone type, date, term and major when importing data.
Please pay special attention to dates when importing to Element. Incorrectly formatted dates will likely result in the exclusion of the Milestone from the Funnel Dashboard.
Troubleshooting & FAQ
Should I use this dashboard to report my current enrollment numbers?
While you can derive your enrollment numbers from the Funnel dashboard, that is not the dashboard's intended purpose. Rather, the Funnel dashboard is designed to visualize how your students move through the funnel, and how the timing and rate of that movement compares to other periods. As each school measures their enrollment according to their unique needs, we do not recommend using the Funnel dashboard as your source of truth.
Why is there no data?
There are a variety of reasons why Insights visualizations might be blank. Try the following quick fixes:
Reset the report. Visualizations may be filtering the report.
Check the date controls. If the date is too far in the past, it may pre-date your activity in Element451.
Your Data may not be following best practices. Read more.
What does the "Uh oh, looks like you have 0 {funnel stage} for ..."
This error message appears on big, blue number visualizations when data is not present. This error is shown when a funnel stage count for a particular term is equal to zero. Zero counts can be because of non-existant or delayed data, as the error message indicates. They can also be related to term start dates and academic years missing from your Terms data source.
What are funnel stages based on?
Funnel stages are based on Milestones. Milestones are automatically created when student's complete activities that advance them through the funnel, such as submitting a Form (which creates a Date of Inquiry Milestone) or having their Decision status set to "Admit" (which creates an Admit Date Milestone). Check out the Dashboard Data section of this article for a list.
Why do my funnel counts not match my Segments or filters in the People module?
While Segment Filters provide a convenient method of counting students that match certain criteria, Segments are not designed to be a reporting tool. The Funnel dashboard is designed to report on the flow of students through the enrollment funnel.
As listed in the Dashboard Data section, the Funnel dashboard is able to count multiple iterations of the same milestone and is able to intelligently substitute missing term and major data. Also pay close attention to Data Best Practices. The segment filter may count users that Insights has filtered out because of bad data.Why does my Point in Time comparison keep changing?
Example: The current date is 01/15/2023. With Term set to Fall 2024, and the Point in Time set to 01/15/2024, Application Submit shows 1,500, up 200 from the previous term. Then, one week passes. With Point in Time set again to 01/15/2024, Application Submit now shows 1,450, up 150 from the previous term.
This is expected behavior, but can be confusing. There are a few possible explanations.
Possibility 1, a set of students might have multiple Application Submit milestones per term. As explained in the Dashboard Data section, when two Milestones of the same type exist for the same term, the most recent is used. In this example, 50 students submitted a second application for Fall 2024 after 01/15/2024. With their most recent Application Submit milestone now being used for their Application Submit date for Fall 2024, the students no longer appear in the Point in Time Comparison from 01/15/2024, but would appear in a Point in Time Comparison for 01/23/2024.
Possibility 2, a set of students might have had their Application Submit Milestones modified or deleted. In this example, a Element451 user has modified or deleted the Application Submit milestones for 50 students, moving their dates beyond 01/15/2024. This may be an expected process within your institution.Is the funnel count for a given stage the number of students currently in that stage?
The Funnel dashboard counts the total amount of students who have passed a given funnel stage or are currently in it. For example, the Prospects funnel stage counts the total number of students per term who have a Date of Inquiry. If a Prospect then starts an application, they are added to the Application Started count but are not removed from the Prospect count.
How often does the Funnel dashboard update?
The Funnel dashboard currently refreshes demographic data twice a day at 6:00 am and 12:00 pm Eastern and milestone data once a day. Depending on the size of the dataset, the refresh can take up to 30 minutes. If you make any changes to a student's demographic data, you will see those changes shortly after the refresh times. Changes to a student's milestone information will display in 24 hours.