Higher ed enrollment insights

The impending enrollment cliff

As the pool of high school and college graduates decreases and attitudes shift about the value of a four-year degree, schools need targeted, data-driven strategies to meet enrollment targets.

While community colleges are recovering from the pandemic enrollment slump more quickly than other institutions, they too face a shifting demographic landscape and hurdles to growing the student population.

Organic marketing is the new sweet spot

List buys and paid search aren’t performing like they once did. Fierce competition for the attention of the same population is driving paid media costs sky high, with marketing budgets at some of the largest institutions and OPMs exploding.

The answer: Partners that generate inquiries through organic channels convert students into enrollees 2-3x more often than paid media channels – and at a lower cost.

Siloed data is untapped potential

The data needed to market and grow enrollments is often spread across disparate systems and platforms, unavailable for personalization or analytics. Meanwhile, data centralization initiatives can stretch the capabilities of in-house IT.

The answer: Partners that use data enablement throughout the funnel saw a 31% increase in first-year undergraduate enrollments.

The right partnerships extend your reach

Schools yet to build microcredential or non-degree programs are losing potential students to private providers that have established themselves as formidable competitors. However, for the unprepared, launching a microcredential program can be a heavy lift.

The answer: Our research with UPCEA revealed that more than 61% of companies without external training partnerships are interested in developing them.