Affordability tab
Below the query paragraph in the left side navigation, check out the Affordability tab next.
The Affordability tab offers Summary, Median, High Income, Distribution, and Race/Ethnicity, and Change in Average sub tabs.
Household Income data
In the Summary tab, you'll have the opportunity to set query parameters- select a drive time in ten-minute increments up to an hour, and enter a tuition level.
You'll notice the default tuition setting is $27,950- this is the NAIS median tuition across all member schools. Update this parameter by typing your school's tuition level. If your school uses stepped-tuition, try viewing each different level or your school's average tuition with a few keystrokes.
In the Summary tab see an insight paragraph outlining ability to pay within the selected drive time at the designated tuition level.
Ability to pay is one lens through which school leaders can assess their market.
You'll see the income Market View estimates a family will need to earn to afford the entered tuition level at full-freight. The tool aggregates and crunches data from hundreds of thousands of financial aid applications submitted through the SSS application to make this determination. Based on the incomes reported by the Census in your area, Market View also provides an estimate of the proportion of households in your area earning this much within your designated drive time.
A good rule of thumb is that more than 15% of your market should be earning as much to avoid affordability strain in your admissions funnel.
"Right fit" families exist in all income bands. Market View offers a breakdown of the income needed to afford a spectrum of tuition contributions - from partial pay to full pay, as well as estimates about how much of the market earns each income level, in the breakdown below.
As always, this data can be copy & pasted into any spreadsheet editor, or downloaded via csv.
Below, you'll see the Financial Gap and Expected Household Contribution by Income Band.
This chart illustrates how much a families earning income in bands from <$25k to over $500K annually might be expected to pay and how much aid would be needed at the selected tuition level, according to data from hundreds of thousands of financial aid applications submitted through SSS.
The Median tab demonstrates the true center of incomes in the market indicated by your selected drive time, and compares these numbers with national median incomes. The chart shows 10 years of historical data, as well as five year projections, indicated by dotted lines, to help you see trends. Clicking the circles in the legend below the chart will toggle data on/off- this will help filter your data quickly, if you'd rather focus on national or local data.
Unlike calculations of average income, median income data is not skewed by large outliers- households making exceptionally high or low incomes.
Below, you'll see the five highest earning ZIPs within your drive time. Do these align with your anecdotal understanding of your market?
The High Income tab shows the number of families earning $200K or more in your selected drive time in the last ten years, with five-year projections included in dotted lines.
The Distribution tab breaks out the number and proportion of households in your selected drivetime across income bands. Income bands are grouped in increments of $25k. Remember that a household income reflects all individuals at the same address, and they might not be related by blood, marriage, or adoption, unlike groups under the Census designation of family.
The Census provides more nuanced income information for households, allowing us to display incomes over $500K with more detail in the chart.
The chart shows the proportion and number of households in your selected drive time earning income at each level, as well as whether SSS would expect households in that income band to pay full tuition, contribute partial tuition, or require full aid.
If you prefer to work with tabular data, this information is included in the table below.
The Race/Ethnicity tab offers a deeper look at the distribution chart above. In addition to information about the distribution of your market across income band and financial assistance designation, the chart shows you the racial/ethnic composition of each income band.
This chart contains a ton of information, so it can be useful to narrow the field of focus for targeted conversations. Market View has your back- hover the mouse over any of the bars in the chart to focus on one specific group, or use the small, colorful circles in the legend below the chart to toggle the data for different groups on or off.
You can also filter your data using the drop-down menus located just above the chart- click the type of data you'd like to filter, income or race/ethnicity, and click the blue check marks to engage or disengage selected variables.
The Change in Average tab can help you understand historical and projected shifts in income across different racial/ethnic groups in your market. This information is useful to assess risk, for example; If your school is heavily representative of one racial/ethnic group, and the projected household income is expected to decrease, you might need to consider other ways to shore up enrollment.
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