Plaid Forecast is a scenario planning tool for strategic enrolment management, helping higher education leaders collaboratively generate timely and accurate forecasts that support data-informed insights and decisions.

Enrolment executives are facing increasing pressure to hit strategic enrolment and budgetary targets, and maximize growth. Many enrolment executives struggle to create accurate and timely forecasts of student enrolment revenues due to a lack of people, time and tools. The current pandemic has highlighted just how fragmented existing forecasting processes are. To address this challenge, Plaid has developed Plaid Forecast – the first web-based enrolment forecasting platform modelled exclusively for higher education.

Plaid Forecast aligns academic and financial planning teams whilst eliminating bottlenecks in the forecasting process. By producing timely and accurate enrolments forecasts, Plaid Forecast enables data-informed insights and decisions that help enrolment executives:

• Save time: Generate enrolment forecasts in minutes instead of days.
• Reduce risk: Reduce dependency on key forecasting staff.
• Strategic foresight: Future forecast analysis allows for earlier and more accurate strategic planning.
• Improve utilization: Manage capacity more intentionally and ensure optimal enrolment levels.
• Increase revenue: Accurate utilization forecasting provides greater clarity around capacity, enabling increased student enrolment.

With the Plaid approach, we provide:

• A robust, accurate, and lightning-fast enrolment forecasting tool to help you plan different scenarios of growth/non-growth in future years.
• Fully web-based: No downloads required and mobile-friendly.
• Update scenarios on a schedule and on-demand.
• Workflows, including scenario approval, delegation, and return for revision.
• Fully track every version of every scenario.

Working with Andrew and Pat from Plaid Analytics has been a pleasure. Plaid helped Postgraduate Medical Education at UBC transition from a spreadsheet based workforce planning system to a dedicated forecasting system which is accurate, intuitive and state of the art. It has transformed our operations and enables us to forecast much more accurately on the number of residents in each of our programs. This is of great benefit to our workforce and financial planning. Plaid are experts and market leaders in their field. They are passionate about what they do and both professional and attentive to our needs. Plaid have unique insights and they continue to support us with their expertise.

Rob Brackenbury | Senior Manager, Postgraduate Medical Education Faculty of Medicine, The University of British Columbia