This booklet provides an overview of key concepts of Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM), a comprehensive process designed to help institutions of higher education achieve and maintain the optimum student recruitment, retention, and graduation rates. "Optimum" here is defined within the academic context of the particular institution. Primary goals of SEM are: stabilizing enrollments, linking academic programs and SEM, stabilizing finances, optimizing resources, improving services, improving quality, improving access to information, reducing vulnerability to environmental forces, and evaluating strategies and tactics. Underlying factors in linking an institution's academic program and SEM are discussed including student choice, academic policies, balancing demand, serving students as clients, and optimizing teaching and learning. Following sections cover defining an institution's optimum enrollment and the economics of SEM. A section on organizational options emphasizes the connection between successful SEM and active leadership from executive officers of an institution. Institutional strategies are described for recruitment, prospects and yields, marketing, retention, intervention, information, and reengineering. Critical success factors are discussed: leadership, strategic planning, comprehensiveness, performance indicators, research, academic foundation, information technology, and evaluation. A final section contains information on Datatel, Inc., a software manufacturer in the SEM field. (JB)