Join us for a special live Enrollment Spectrum Podcast recording as we sit down with Raj Raghunathan, PhD, to explore connections between his research and EMA's newest special report, An Independent School Education: Family Perceptions of Value and Affordability. Dr. Raghunathan, H.E. Hartfelder/The Southland Corporation Regents Chair of Marketing at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin, is an internationally recognized researcher, writer, and speaker. His work examines how judgments and decisions shape happiness, fulfillment, and perceptions of value. Dr. Raghunathan's insights—featured in The New York Times, Harvard Business Review, The Atlantic, and a TED Talk that reached millions worldwide—position him uniquely to shed light on today's independent school marketplace. The session will explore how behavioral science shapes the ways families perceive tuition, investment, and the long-term value of an independent school education. This live conversation offers a front-row seat at the intersection of theory and practice—blending research, storytelling, and actionable insights to strengthen enrollment management strategy.

Dr. Raghunathan's work has appeared in top journals, including The Journal of Marketing, The Journal of Consumer Research, The Journal of Marketing Research, and The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. His work has been cited in The Atlantic, The New York Times, Fortune, Forbes, and Harvard Business Review. Dr. Raghunathan's Psychology Today blog, Sapient Nature, has over 2.5 million page views. His online course on Employee Happiness was rated a Top MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) of 2019 and currently has over 10,000 students. Dr. Raghunathan's book, If You're So Smart, Why Aren't You Happy?, has been translated into 13 languages and has been featured in the Atlantic, Time, Guardian, Times of India, Live Mint, and Mid-Day. Dr. Raghunathan's TED talk was viewed live (on STAR TV) by over 17 million people worldwide.

EMA members can access the full report, An Independent School Education: Family Perceptions of Value and Affordability, and dig deeper into the results on the accompanying data dashboard by logging into EMA's Community: community.enrollment.org.

In this episode, I am joined by my special co-host for this mini-series, Ari Betof, Co-Founder and Partner of Mission & Data, along with Randie Benedict, Associate Head of School for Enrollment Management at St. Anne's-Belfield School, and Lisa Ha, Chief Communications Officer at St. Anne's-Belfield School. Together, we explore how independent schools can move from insight to action by using data from E3n's (EMA+ERB) perceived value and affordability data to refine the admission experience and strengthen mission-aligned enrollment strategy. Drawing on real-world practices at St. Anne's-Belfield School, this conversation examines how enrollment, marketing, and academic leadership teams can work together to create intentional, authentic experiences for prospective families across all divisions.

Listeners will hear how data from surveys, focus groups, student outcomes, and industry research can help schools identify the stories they most need families to hear, what Randie Benedict refers to as St. Anne's-Belfield School's "must-air facts," and how those messages can evolve.

The episode also explores how schools can balance what families say they value with what their behaviors actually reveal, how student ambassadors and parent conversations generate meaningful enrollment insights, and why building strong internal collaboration between enrollment and marketing teams is essential for long-term success.
From understanding family motivations to refining tours, viewbooks, and messaging strategies, this episode offers practical examples of how schools can use actionable data to create more connected, compelling, and mission-centered admission experiences.

In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Manoj Thomas, Cornell University's Sabanci Professor of Management and Marketing and Associate Dean of New York City Initiatives. A leading behavioral scientist, Manoj explores how unconscious mental processes shape consumer decisions, from pricing psychology to the subtle cues that influence how we perceive value.

We discuss his research on behavioral economics and pricing strategy, and connect these insights to independent school strategic enrollment management. Drawing on his expertise as both a scholar and engaging educator, Manoj offers a fascinating perspective on the psychology of decision-making and what it means for independent schools navigating questions of affordability, value, and perception.

EMA members can access the full report, An Independent School Education: Family Perceptions of Value and Affordability, and dig deeper into the results on the accompanying data dashboard by logging into EMA's Community: community.enrollment.org.