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by M. Deborah Bialeschki, Ph.D.
Whenever camp professionals get together, at some point the conversation
focuses on issues around enrollment. Some folks boast of waiting lists
and high numbers of returning campers. Other directors talk worriedly
about decreases in enrollment and less interested children going to camp.
This fall we collected information about enrollment from the 2005 summer
season to get some answers to these concerns.
Thanks to the camps that took time to complete the survey and to the
encouragement given them by executive directors in the local American
Camp Association (ACA) offices, we had 528 camps complete the Web-based
survey (a 23 percent response rate). The camps that answered the survey
were representative of the ACA camp community and provided an accurate
view of enrollment . To have comparable information,
we asked directors to indicate their total enrollment in camper weeks
rather than total campers as a way to equalize different session lengths.
For example, if one hundred campers attended for one week, that was equal
to one hundred camper weeks. However if one hundred campers attended
camp for eight weeks, that was eight hundred camper weeks. While the
survey also asked questions about staff recruitment, this article discusses
only the camper enrollment data.
Overview of Summer 2005 Enrollment
The overall view on enrollment from directors was that the 2005 summer
season was a good summer for the majority of camps. Forty-two percent
of the camps indicated that this summer was the highest or higher than
most of the past five summers for enrollment, while another 23 percent
of the directors thought enrollment was about the same.
However, some directors provided a different view on enrollment when
they indicated last summer was lower than most of the past five summers
(22 percent), and some camps reported their worst enrollment (13 percent)
for that five-year period. When compared to their potential capacity,
almost half of the camps (45 percent) operated at 90 percent-100 percent
capacity. About a quarter of the camps operated at 80 percent-89 percent
capacity, and another quarter operated at less than 80 percent capacity.
Over 60 percent of the camps were within 90 percent-100 percent of their
targeted enrollment for the 2005 summer.
The number of summer camper weeks generated in 2005 helps assess the
impact of camp opportunities for children. Table
1 on shows the
distribution of camper weeks generated by the camps in the survey. Seventy
percent said 2005 camper weeks were equal to or higher than last year.
When asked how much higher this year was for camper weeks, 58 percent
said between 1 percent-7 percent higher (see
Map 1). If they
indicated they were lower on camper weeks compared to last year, 56 percent
were lower by 1 percent-7 percent (see
Map 2). When asked
about enrollment in specialized programs (horseback riding, etc.) camps
indicated that the interest was about the same as last year (38 percent)
or higher (18 percent). It was interesting to note that 27 percent of
the camps responded they offered no specialized programs.
Camp directors were interested in enrollment based on gender (see
Table 2). When asked about enrollment of boys in their programs,
42 percent said they had increased while 22 percent had decreased. Sixty-five
percent of camps with increased numbers of boys said it was higher by
1 percent-7 percent while more than half of the camps (58 percent) who
were lower were down by 1 percent-7 percent. However, 27 percent of the
camps who were lower on boys' enrollment
were down more than 10 percent compared to last year. A similar picture
emerged for girls' enrollment. Thirty-seven percent of the camps
had higher enrollment of girls in 2005 while 29 percent were lower than
2004. For both higher and lower enrollments of girls, 39 percent said
the difference was in the 1 percent-3 percent range. Similar to the boys' data,
26 percent of the camps who were down on girls' enrollment were
lower by more than 10 percent.
Enrollment numbers based on age of campers was also a concern this summer.
Table 3 shows enrollment by three age groups: ≤ nine-year-olds, ten
to twelve-year-olds, and teens. The majority of camps for 2005 summer
indicated the same or higher enrollment compared to last year in each
age group. When we looked to see how much higher and lower enrollments
were, we found mirror images of change. For example, for ten to twelve-year-olds,
we found 36 percent of the camps were higher by 1 percent-3 percent and
36 percent were lower by 1 percent-3 percent. For nine years and under,
we found 21 percent were up by 10 percent or more while 16 percent were
down by 10 percent or more. This finding may suggest a shifting of campers
from one camp to another camp.
This year, we also collected data on how camps financially supported
campers through scholarships, donations, etc. Most camps (85 percent)
indicated their organization offered financial support of at least
50 percent of the camp costs to campers in need. Forty-two percent of
the camps generated between 1-49 camper weeks through this type of support
while 23 percent said they generated 50-199 supported camper weeks. When
compared to last year, 90 percent of the camps said they were the same
or higher in their financial support of campers with modest 1 percent-7
percent increases.
Lastly, return rates of campers were examined. More than half the directors
said they had return rates between 50 percent- 74 percent. When compared
to last year,
62 percent of the directors said they had about the same number of returning
campers. For camps with higher rates of returning campers, almost 60
percent said they had increased by 1 percent-7 percent while the same
percent (60 percent) of those camps that had lower returning campers
had decreases of 1 percent-7 percent.
Does Enrollment Differ Based On Camp Characteristics?
Folks in the field thought we might see a difference in enrollment information
when day and resident camps were compared. However, that comparison showed
few meaningful differences. The four major differences that were found
for the summer of 2005 addressed the amount of financial support received,
session length, camper return rates, and perceived enrollment trends
for the past five years. Day camps had slightly less financial support
for campers ($2,500-$4,999) compared to resident camps' support
($5,000-$9,999). The average day camp had a slightly longer session length
than did the average resident camp, but overall the most popular session
length for both was one week. Finally when 2005 summer was compared to
the previous five years, day camps indicated that this summer was higher
in enrollment than most of the last five years while resident camps thought
it was about the same or perhaps slightly higher than the past summers.
A regional analysis uncovered a few more differences specific to a camp's
location. The following seven enrollment differences addressed: session
length; percent of returning campers; the amount of financial support
given by the camp; the degree of decrease in overall camper enrollment;
and the degree of decrease in lower enrollments for boys, girls, teens,
and returning campers. The following regional comparisons spotlight the
challenges that face camps in the West and to a lesser extent camps in
the South.
- Session lengths differed regionally; although the majority
of camps said their most popular sessions were one week long. One-week
sessions were most popular in the South, West, and Mid-America regions
while New England and Mid-Atlantic regions had more camps favoring
three-week or longer sessions.
- Mid-Atlantic regions had the highest
number of returning campers while the West and South had lower rates
of returnees. Camps in the South experienced the greatest decrease
(greater than 10 percent) in return campers.
- When compared to last year,
the enrollment of financially supported campers was highest for the
South and lowest in the West.
- Compared to last summer, higher drops
(8 percent+) were seen in overall camper enrollments in the West region.
- Higher
drops (8 percent+) in enrollment of boys were seen in the West and
South while Mid-America and Mid-Atlantic regions did not have such
extensive decreases.
- Decreases of 8 percent+ in enrollments for girls
were seen in the West and New England.
- Camps in the West experienced
the greatest decreases in teen enrollments.
The last analysis looked at the information from the perspective of
camp affiliation (agency, religious, independent for profit, and independent
nonprofit). This comparison showed a number of interesting differences.
- Religiously affiliated camps experienced the most consistent
pattern of decreases in enrollment of boys, girls, ten- to twelve-year-old
campers, and teen campers.
- Agency camps stayed the same or increased
slightly in boys' enrollment
and ten- to twelve-year-olds while independent for profit camps maintained
or increased slightly in girls' and teen enrollments.
- Independent
for-profit camps had the highest rate of returning campers (75 percent-100
percent) while independent nonprofit camps had the lowest (50 percent-74
percent).
- Independent for-profit camps indicated that their overall
camper enrollment was between 90 percent-99 percent capacity while
religiously-affiliated camps had the lowest average capacity at 80
percen-89 percent.
- When asked how close they
were to their targeted enrollment for the 2005 summer, independent
for-profit camps had the best performance at the upper end of the 90
percent-99 percent. Religiously-affiliated had the lowest but still
fell within their target of
90 percent-99 percent.
- The most popular session length varied by affiliation
where religious-affiliated favored the shorter sessions (one to two
weeks) while independent for-profit camps like longer sessions (four+
weeks).
So What Can We Learn From the Enrollment Survey?
The issue of camp enrollment is more complex than may initially appear.
While the summer of 2005 was one of high enrollment that met many camps' targeted
enrollment projections and was close to capacity, for other segments
of the camp community, the summer was one of the lowest enrollment summers
of the past five years. A closer look at the data lead to several conclusions
from this study:
- It appears that the amount of loss of camper weeks in some
camps was offset by comparable increases in other camps. While difficult
to prove, one possibility is that campers may be leaving one camp only
to enroll in another camp.
- Regional differences based on the camps' location
indicate that camps in the West and to a lesser degree in the South
are facing enrollment challenges not experienced in other parts of
the country. With the effects of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita on the
camps in the South, this challenge may increase enrollment concerns
for this region
this year.
- The concern over enrollment differences for day and resident
camps were not evident in these data.
- Enrollment decreases are a concern
for religiously-affiliated camps. When camps who indicated they were
experiencing decreases in enrollment (particularly by age and gender)
were examined more closely, religiously-affiliated camps were often
the ones with the largest decreases.
- When enrollments were maintained
at previous levels or increased, these gains were spread throughout
the camp community.
The picture of enrollment that has emerged from this survey is possible
because these ACA camps took the time to complete the study. We plan
to continue to collect enrollment projection data every January and April
in support of the actual enrollment information gathered every fall.
We hope that even more camps will choose to participate in these brief
surveys. With the help of camp administrators, we will generate a base
from which to develop trends related to enrollment. Our goal is to provide
camp decision-makers with accurate information so they can develop marketing
and recruitment strategies and retention plans based on the most informed
research data from the camp community.
Originally published in the 2006 March/April
issue of Camping Magazine. |
