Having spent years in higher education enrollment and marketing, I’ve know firsthand the dedication it takes to connect with prospective students and ensure their success, keenly aware of the immense effort required, the daily challenges teams face in standing out amidst a sea of institutions, and the ever-increasing workloads they manage. And, at the center of all of this is a profound passion for making a real difference in students’ lives and a deep commitment to the unique mission of each university.
The exciting prospect I see now is how artificial intelligence can actually empower us to achieve these very goals more effectively, without sacrificing the crucial human touch that is critical to the student experience.
The true power of AI at universities
The true power of AI in student engagement isn’t about replacing people; it’s about freeing up our teams to invest their time and energy where it truly matters – nurturing meaningful relationships with students. By automating routine tasks and offering valuable data-driven insights, AI provides us with a unique opportunity to connect with students on a deeper level. We can better understand their individual needs and interests, allowing us to provide personalized support that genuinely sets them up for success.
AI can help enrollment teams sift through hundreds of thousands of inquiries to find those students who will find their path in life thanks to the unique offerings of their university. I don’t know an enrollment team that says they are fully staffed, and AI will give our already stretched teams more time back in their day to really connect with these prospective students. The reward of seeing these students thrive on campus and later succeed in their chosen fields, knowing you played a part in their journey, is deeply fulfilling and why many of us work in higher education.
Discover RNL Edge, the AI solution for higher education
RNL Edge is a comprehensive suite of higher education AI solutions that will help you engage constituents, optimize operations, and analyze data instantly—all in a highly secure environment that keeps your institutional data safe. With limitless uses for enrollment and fundraising, RNL Edge is truly the AI solution built for the entire campus.
And let’s consider the experience students have once they are on campus. It’s not just about sitting in class and absorbing information; it’s about navigating a complex environment, discovering one’s place and passion, and building a foundation for the future. Students need guidance, encouragement, and consistent support throughout this journey. This is where the human element is indispensable. AI can be a powerful tool in identifying students who may be facing challenges, enabling us to offer targeted support and help them overcome obstacles that might otherwise slow or even block their progress.
Beyond simply reacting to challenges, AI can empower us to be more proactive. It can help us identify students who might be at risk academically or personally, so we can provide timely support before they fall behind and withdraw. It can also help us tailor our teaching methods to better suit the diverse needs of individual learners, moving away from a one-size-fits-all approach. And crucially, AI can help us measure the effectiveness of our programs faster, making the goal of data-informed decisions for continuous improvement possible across the university.
Ultimately, the goal of using AI at your university should be to cultivate a more personalized, more effective, and more compassionate learning environment. It’s about empowering students to reach their full potential and making a lasting positive impact on their lives. By integrating AI in a way that enhances, rather than replaces, human interaction, we can build a more supportive, more present, and more successful learning experience for every student. If you are ready to learn more about how AI can help your university, schedule a discovery session with RNL to see firsthand how AI can empower your teams, enhance student experiences, and drive academic success.
“Denver Public Schools to close 7 schools, cut grades at 3 others despite heavy resistance.”
“The list is out: These are the SFUSD schools facing closure.”
Such reports can leave the impression that districts are rapidly closing schools in response to declining enrollment and families leaving for charters, private schools and homeschooling.
But the data tells a different story.
School closures have actually declined over the past decade, a period of financial instability that only increased in the aftermath of the pandemic, according to research from the Brookings Institution.
The analysis, shared exclusively with The 74, shows that in 2014-15, the closure rate — the share of schools nationwide that were open one year and closed the next — was 1.3%. In 2023-24, the rate was just .8%, up from .7% the year before.
“I think it’s important for people to realize how rare school closures are,” said Sofoklis Goulas, a Brookings fellow and the study’s author.
Last fall, his research showed how schools that have lost at least 20% of their enrollment since the pandemic are more likely to be low-performing. The Clark County Public Schools, which includes Las Vegas, had the most schools on the list — 19 — but isn’t currently considering closures. In Philadelphia, with 12 schools in that category, district leaders are just beginning to discuss closures.
When it released Goulas’s initial report, leaders of the conservative Thomas B. Fordham Institute argued that low-performing schools should be the first to close. But efforts to do so are often met with pushback from families, teachers and advocacy groups who argue that shutting down schools unfairly harms poor and minority students and contributes to neighborhood blight. Their pleas often push district leaders to retreat. Working in advocates’ favor, experts say, is the fact that many big district leaders are untested and have never had to navigate the emotionally charged waters of closing schools.
“Closing a neighborhood school is probably one of the most difficult decisions a district’s board makes,” said Michael Fine, CEO of the Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team, a California state agency that provides financial oversight to districts. “They are going to avoid that decision as long as they can and at all costs.”
Such examples aren’t hard to find:
Just weeks after announcing closures, the San Francisco district halted plans to shutter any schools this fall.
In September, outgoing Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez pledged to put off school closures for another two years, even though state law allows the city to take action sooner. The district is in the process of absorbing five charter schools to keep them from closing.
In October, Pittsburgh Public Schools recommended closing 14 schools; several others were set to be relocated and reconfigured. About a month later, Superintendent Wayne Walters hit pause, saying the district needed more “thoughtful planning” and community input.
Last May, the Seattle Public Schools announced it would shutter 20 elementary schools next school year in response to a $100 million-plus budget deficit. They later increased the number to 21. By October, the list had dwindled to four schools. Just before Thanksgiving, Superintendent Brent Jones withdrew the plan entirely.
“This decision allows us to clarify the process, deepen our understanding of the potential impacts, and thoughtfully determine our next steps,” Jones wrote to families. While the plan would have saved the district $5.5 million, he said, “These savings should not come at the cost of dividing our community.”
Graham Hill Elementary in Seattle, which fifth grader Wren Alexander has attended since kindergarten, was initially on the list. The Title I school sits on top of a hill in a desirable area overlooking Lake Washington. But it also draws students from the lower-income, highly diverse Brighton Park neighborhood.
Among Wren’s neighbors are students from Ethiopia, Vietnam and Guatemala. Wren, who moves on to middle school this fall, said she looks forward to visiting her former teachers and cried when she heard Graham Hill might close. She wanted her younger brother and sister to develop the same warm connection she had.
“I don’t think I would be who I am if I didn’t go to the school,” she said.
Wren Alexander and her little sister Nico, outside Graham Hill. (Courtesy of Tricia Alexander)
Tricia Alexander, her mother, was among those who opposed the closures, participating in rallies outside the district’s administration building and before board meetings.
“We were really loud,” said Alexander, who’s also part of Billion Dollar Bake Sale, an effort to advocate for more state education funding. She said there was “no real evidence” that closing schools would have solved the district’s budget woes. “In no way would kids win.”
It’s a view shared by many school finance experts, who note that the bulk of school funding is tied up in salaries, not facility costs. Districts may save some money from closing schools, but unless coupled with staff reductions, it’s often not enough to make up for large budget shortfalls.
‘So bad at this’
If enrollment doesn’t pick up, experts say, leaders who delay closures will have to confront the same issues a year later or — perhaps even more likely — pass the problems on to their successors.
“If there continues to be fewer and fewer children …then that doesn’t get better,” said Brian Eschbacher, an enrollment consultant.
One Chicago high school, for example, had just 33 students last year. In Los Angeles, the nation’s second-largest district, 34 elementary schools have fewer than 200 students and 29 of those are using less than half of the building, according to a recent report. The share of U.S. students being educated outside of traditional schools also continues to increase, according to a forthcoming analysis Goulas conducted with researchers at Yale University.
“We don’t see a trajectory of enrollment recovery,” he said. “Things actually got worse in the most recently released data batch.”
But such conditions haven’t stopped advocacy groups from campaigning against closures. One of them, the left-leaning Advancement Project, has joined with local groups in Denver and Pittsburgh to make a case against closures nationally.
“All children deserve to have a local, neighborhood public school in which they and their families have a say,” said Jessica Alcantara, senior attorney for the group’s Opportunity to Learn program. “It’s not just that school closures are hard on families. They harm the full education ecosystem that makes up a school — students, families, school staff and whole communities.”
Last May, Alcantara and other Advancement Project staff urged the U.S. Department of Education to treat school closures as a civil rights issue. Nine of the 10 schools the Denver district planned to close in 2022 had a majority Black or Hispanic student population.
The advocates argued that in cases of enrollment loss, run-down facilities and empty classrooms, there are alternatives to closing schools. They encourage communities to push for renovations and urge district leaders to use vacant spaces for STEM, arts or other programs that might attract families. Opponents of closures also say that districts sometimes underestimate how much of a building is used for non-classroom purposes like special education services, early-childhood programs and mental health.
Eschbacher’s assessment of why districts often back down from closing schools is more blunt.
“Districts are so bad at this,” he said. “If you just do a few things wrong, it could sink the whole effort.”
For one, leaders often target schools with under 300 students for closure, appealing to parents that they can’t afford to staff them with arts programs, a school nurse or a librarian.
But those explanations sometimes fall flat.
“Parents always say, ‘I wanted a small school. I know my teachers and they know my kid. And it’s right down the street,’” Eschbacher said. If they didn’t like their school, he added, they would have likely would have chosen a charter or some other option.
District officials also run into trouble if they try to spin the data. When Seattle officials talked about “right-sizing” the district, they pointed to the loss of 4,900 students since 2019-20.
But Albert Wong, a parent in the district and a lifelong Seattle resident, knew there was more to the story. Not only is the current enrollment higher than it was from 2000 to 2011, the pandemic-related decline seems to have leveled off. In a commentary, he argued that officials presented misleading data “to make current enrollment look exceptionally bad.”
Graham Hill Elementary, fifth-grader Wren’s school, actually saw a slight increase in enrollment this year, including a new class for preschoolers with disabilities. And while Pittsburgh schools are projected to lose another 5,000 students over the next six years, enrollment this year held steady at about 18,400.
To Eschbacher, the “burden of proof is always on the district” to make an airtight case for why students would be better off in larger schools. He has applauded the Denver-area Jeffco Public Schools, which has closed 21 schools since 2021, for having state demographers, not just district officials, explain population trends to families at community meetings.
‘It wasn’t realistic’
Walters, Pittsburgh’s superintendent, can easily rattle off reasons why the district should rethink how it uses its buildings. Early last year, local news reports showed that almost half of the district’s schools were less than 50% full.
“We’ve lost about a fourth of our population, but we have not changed anything to our footprint,” he said.
Meanwhile, the average age of the district’s buildings is 90 years old, and many lack air-conditioning, forcing some schools to send students home in sweltering weather.
But a consulting group’s proposal showed that Black and low-income students and those with disabilities would be disproportionately affected by the changes. Several advocacy groups drew attention to those disparities, calling the effort “rushed.”
412 Justice, an advocacy group, is among the community organizations pushing for alternatives to school closures in Pittsburgh. (412 Justice)
Walters agreed and put the plan on hold last fall, saying he lacked “robust” responses to parents’ tough questions about how schools would change for their kids.
“It doesn’t mean that we don’t see a path forward,” he said. “But it wasn’t realistic that we would have those questions answered within the timeline that we’ve been given.”
In March, parents pushed for another delay, causing the school board to postpone a vote on the next phase in the closure process.
As the Jeffco district demonstrates, some school systems are following through with closures. The school board in nearby Denver unanimously voted in November to close seven schools and downsize three more.
But that’s after community protests pushed the district to put the brakes on a plan to close 19 schools in 2021. Advocates argued that families in low-income areas, who had been heavily impacted by the pandemic, would be most affected. Then the district only closed three in 2023, and now board members are considering a pause on closures for three years.
School boards closing a dozen or more schools are often catching up with work their predecessors let pile up, said Goulas of Brookings.
“Closing a single school allows for easier placement of students and minimizes the political cost and community stress,” he said. “When a district releases a long list of schools to close, it likely indicates that they waited for conditions to improve, but this didn’t happen.”
Angel Gober, executive director of 412 Justice — one of 16 organizations that called on the Pittsburgh district to drop its plan — acknowledged that their fight isn’t over.
“I think we got a temporary blessing from God,” she said. But she wants the district to explore a host of alternatives, like community schools and corporate support, before it shutters and sells off buildings. “We do have very old infrastructure, and that is an equity issue. But can we try five things before we make a drastic decision to close schools for forever?”
Marketing messages bombard students from every direction, so capturing their attention—and inspiring them to take action—requires creative that truly stands out. That’s exactly what the RNL creative team delivers, crafting award-winning campaigns that engage, resonate, and drive results across every channel, from digital to direct mail. We work closely with our campus partners to ensure every undergraduate and graduate campaign is both strategic and impactful—proven by the many gold award-winning projects we’re celebrating this year.Here are 11 that took home gold medals—and one Best of Show—at the 40th annual Educational Advertising Awards.
Illinois College Agribusiness Management |SEO Video (Best of Show)
Video isn’t just eye-catching—it’s a powerful SEO booster that keeps visitors on the page longer to improve search rankings. For this project, we paired SEO-optimized web copy with a compelling long-form video designed to engage skimmers and drive inquiries. Illinois College’s campus team fully embraced the collaboration, delivering stunning unique footage that brought their story to life. The result? A versatile, high-impact asset that drove a 7,000% increase in web page visits. Watch the video.
University of Tulsa | Standout Integrated Search Campaign
Reaching high school sophomores and juniors means meeting them where they are—in their inboxes, on their feeds, and in their hands. This multi-channel campaign reinforces the University of Tulsa’s bold message: students don’t have to choose between fitting in and standing out. Rich Art Deco design and conversational copy celebrating personal and academic uniqueness helped elevate brand nationwide while encouraging students to find their fit at UTulsa.
Linfield University | Personalized Applicant Direct Mail
This eye-catching mailer puts Linfield’s bold purple and cardinal branding front and center, using standout stats and a dynamic design to capture attention. Featuring Mack the Wildcat, it reinforces school spirit while guiding students toward their next step—applying with confidence.
American Musical and Dramatic Academy | Dream-Making Applicant Mailer
Designed to attract aspiring performers to perform, create, and wow at campuses in New York and Los Angeles, this high-energy mailer steals the spotlight with bold visuals and dynamic performance imagery. Filled with upbeat performance industry lingo, it sets the stage for students to step into their future—and apply.
University of Mount Union | Bold, Strong Instagram Ads
These dynamic search campaign ads put real students front and center, showcasing hands-on learning in action. With bold visuals and empowering copy, the campaign encourages prospects to show up strong, seize opportunities, and own their moment—both in college and beyond.
Rockford University | Feed-Stopping Facebook Ads
These bright branded ads grab attention alongside the question “RU Ready?”, sparking curiosity about the welcoming environment and numerous opportunities at “RockU.” The campaign is designed to stand out in feeds and aims to inspire students to see themselves on campus and take the next step toward getting there.
Featuring proud, hopeful, and joyful students, this campaign highlights reasons students choose STLCC to pursue their dreams. The result? Authentic, inspiring ads that encourage prospects to find their reason at STLCC.
Jackson State University | THEE Standard for Search Campaigns
Inspired by Jackson State University’s iconic fight song, this email campaign set the tone with bold headers inviting prospects to learn more about THEE standard for research, academics, innovation, and success. Playful illustrations drawn over dynamic student portraits bring energy and spirit to every email, reinforcing why JSU is THEE place to be.
University of Washington Bothell | Find Your Fit Facebook Ads
This dynamic ad brings exciting campus life to the forefront, featuring lively action shots shaped into a bold “W.” Paired with inviting copy, it highlights the University of Washington Bothell’s close-knit community where students find big opportunities, exciting challenges, and lifelong friends.
Lamar University | Parent Postcard
This gold award-winning postcard spoke directly to parents, highlighting the $20+ million in aid and low tuition that make Lamar University the best-value college in Texas. A clear, compelling message reassures families that a smart investment today means big opportunities for their student’s future.
University of Central Florida | Universe of Opportunity Email Series
With a prime location between NASA, the Space Coast, and Orlando’s endless experiences, UCF Global offers a launchpad for limitless possibilities. This inquiry-to-application email flow features stunning nightscape imagery and star-inspired design elements reinforcing the university’s spirit of exploration and innovation.
Create your own winning connections with future students
Want to turn your marketing into an award-worthy success? RNL’s creative team brings strategic insight, compelling storytelling, and a track record of 100+ awards in five years to every campaign. Whether you’re engaging undergraduate, graduate, or online students, we’ll help you stand out and drive results. Let’s talk—schedule a complimentary consultation today.
What’s Working in 2025 (From Both Sides of the Desk)
Ever wonder if enrollment professionals and students actually speak the same language? Fresh data from RNL’s 2025 Marketing and Recruitment Practices for Undergraduate Students and the forthcoming 2025 E-Expectations reports reveal some fascinating alignments (and a few mismatches) between how we recruit and how students actually make decisions.
The human touch still rules (surprise!)
Remember when we thought Zoom would replace campus tours? Well, the data tell a crystal-clear story that shows the importance of face-to-face connections.:
In-person meetings hit 100% effectiveness across all institution types
88% of students who visit campus find it helpful
College fairs are crushing it with 85% helpfulness ratings
Translation: In our AI-everything world, humans still want to talk to actual humans. Revolutionary, right?
Digital sweet spots (when we get it right)
Here’s where it gets interesting. Both students and enrollment leaders agree that digital works best when it’s personal and purposeful.
What’s working:
Mobile-responsive websites: 100% effectiveness at private institutions (but only 77% are using them – make it make sense!)
SMS messaging: 100% effectiveness across the board
Personalized videos: 96% effectiveness when used (but only 49% of private institutions are creating them)
Student connection platforms: Up to 100% effective when used properly
The email plot twist
Breaking news: Students read your emails!
89% engage with college emails
88% find them helpful
96-100% effectiveness rating from institutions
61% either like or expect personalized experiences
The secret sauce? Personalization that doesn’t feel like it came from a robot.
The AI elephant in the room
Some interesting gaps here:
AI chatbots: 74% of students find them helpful (and 68% are using them)
Live chat: 79% helpful (71% usage)
Digital advertising: Up to 100% effectiveness for institutions
Key insight: Students are more open to AI than we think—they just need to know these tools exist.
Your game plan: 3 key takeaways
Keep it human: Those perfect effectiveness ratings on in-person meetings aren’t accidents
Double down on digital personalization: But please, make it authentic
Mind the gaps: Your most effective tools are often your least used (looking at you, personalized videos)
Stop choosing between high-tech and high-touch—you need both. Just make sure your human connection has a mobile-responsive website to back it up. Because some things never change, and some things really, really need to.
Find out more in our reports and even more at the RNL National Conference
Engaging students wherever they are is critical to enrollment success.
With eight years of experience at Ruffalo Noel Levitz working with more than 100 campuses across the country and following more than two decades leading enrollment efforts on campus, I know firsthand the challenges you face in enrollment. And in today’s environment it can feel like information overload on what you should be doing.
I recently hosted a webinar sharing insights from our 2025 Marketing and Recruiting Best Practices for Undergraduate Students study, where 114 institutions of all types completed our survey about their use and effectiveness of recruitment strategies. We covered everything from the fundamentals of outreach to the latest in AI-powered chatbots. In survey responses, we found a lot of shared experiences and opportunities for strategy enhancement. Specifically, we identified seven strategies that should form the foundation of your annual marketing and recruitment plan, as well as a few others we recommend incorporating to drive your recruitment to the next level.
Let’s talk real numbers (and real support)
In our survey, we asked about written marketing and recruitment plans. Only 29% of institutions have a fully implemented, data-driven plan. So if you’re among the 71% of institutions still working on creation of a full plan, you’re in good company—we’re all trying to navigate this evolving landscape. The encouraging part is you’re committed to improvement. We found that most institutions rate their plans as “good,” but you’re aiming for “excellent.” That drive to excel is what we’re here to support.
Discovering what truly works (together)
Through survey responses, we found some powerful strategies that are working for colleges right now. Virtually every institution that uses them rates personalized videos and video calls with students as effective, although fewer than half of you are using those outreach tactics. And implementing new AI-based digital assistants on your website will meet an expectation that students and families have to receive real-time answers to their questions 24/7 about application status, academic programs, and aid packages—but only 22% of institutions have taken this important step.
Search engine optimization (SEO) stood out as a leading strategy with 75% of institutions pursuing this and 100% of institutions rating it as effective. But we also know that most institutions don’t invest enough or broadly in SEO. Students are increasingly turning to search sites to find university sites and program information, and if you’re not in the top seven links, you’re effectively invisible. You need to incorporate into our annual plans ongoing SEO across your website to develop and maintain relevant content that speaks directly to student interest, both for traditional search engines and AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini. You then need to track site traffic to measure ROI and so you know when it’s time to revisit those pages again. SEO is not a one-and-done process! Let’s make your website a powerful tool for student recruitment.
7 practical steps to optimizing your enrollment management outreach
Revisit your core: start with the fundamentals. Don’t underestimate the power of the basics! Make sure those foundational strategies are rock-solid and you have a documented plan for implementation. A strong foundation allows you to build from there and creates the space you’ll need to deal with mid-cycle unforeseen challenges.
Refine your digital approach: digital marketing practices and calls to action. Take a fresh look at your digital marketing. Are your calls to action clear and compelling? Personalize your ad content to the audiences you’re targeting.
Boost your visibility through SEO. SEO is key to being found. Make sure your website content is discoverable by both traditional searches and AI tools. Track your traffic so you know what’s working and what isn’t.
Advertising strategies. Get smart about your advertising. Are you spending your dollars where your students are today or just where you have always spent them? In the last 4 years we’ve seen a significant shift away from “traditional media” and to digital advertising.
Connect authentically on social media. Focus on the platforms where your students are spending their time. Remember, authenticity is key. They’re looking for real glimpses into campus life, not just polished perfection. Show them the genuine experience.
Create tailored experiences with personalized video. Imagine how students will feel when they receive a video that’s just for them! Work to create personalized, customized content based on each student’s interests and watch who’s watching by incorporating tracking metrics.
Enhance student support with AI chatbots. Digital assistants have come a long way in just a couple of years. Use today’s technology to provide 24/7 support so your prospective students can get specific answers in real time.
We can help you navigate the digital shift and engage students 24/7
While the ongoing shift toward digital strategies can feel overwhelming, we’re here to support you every step of the way. We’ll help you find the right balance for your institution and your audience.
As AI continues to weave its way into our lives, it’s no surprise that high school students are increasingly turning to these tools for college planning. However, our recent study, The AI Divide in College Planning: Students Adoption, Resistance, and Impact, conducted by RNL and TeenVoice, reveals that students aren’t all the same when it comes to AI. Some love it, some are curious but cautious, and some are unsure. Our study identified “Four Faces” of AI adoption among high school students, each with distinct characteristics:
AI Pioneers (33%): These tech-savvy students embrace AI with enthusiasm and trust its capabilities. Representing a significant portion of younger teens, they actively use AI in their college search.
AI Aspirers (33%): The largest group, they are curious but cautious, motivated by the practical benefits AI offers, especially in helping with making scholarship searches, career planning, and college research more efficient. They are prevalent among 15- and 16-year-old teens.
AI Fence Sitters (19%): Uncertain about AI’s role, they rely on traditional methods but are open to compelling evidence. This group, often older teens, requires more information and reassurance.
AI Resistors (9%): Preferring human interaction, they resist AI due to unfamiliarity. However, they are open to learning from trusted advisors like school counselors. This group is more common among Asian/Pacific Islanders and older teens, and in the West and Northeast.
Overall, the Pioneers and Aspirers tended to be the younger high school students, while those hesitant about using AI in the college planning were more likely to be from the 2025 incoming class. A key takeaway from this study is that if you are not already thinking about how to “wow” potential students with AI tools, you need to start. Similar to how admitted student portals evolved from a novelty to a necessity, intuitive AI tools for college planning will soon become a student expectation.
AI can deliver the 24/7 engagement that prospective students expect
Consider the potential of AI-powered chat tools or digital assistants that provide instant application status updates, personalized program recommendations, or streamlined scholarship searches. Students expect 24/7 accessibility and seamless navigation throughout the application process and their college experience. Or use AI to add personalized videos throughout your enrollment communication plan. AI can help you identify what is important to individual students and build video content that speaks directly to them like never before.
In addition, the research clearly shows students still rely on the people in their circle they trust the most—their family, high school guidance counselors, and friends. That’s not at risk of changing anytime soon. AI is an addition, not a replacement. It gives us another way to connect, becoming more important every day. However, as more students move into the AI Pioneer group, integrating AI becomes an essential part of your recruitment mix.
Understanding how students adopt AI will help you meet their expectations
Here’s the bottom line: AI isn’t some far-off idea anymore; its already changing what students expect from us. By understanding the “Four Faces of AI Adoption,” you can tailor your engagement strategies to meet students where they are. And embracing AI tools like digital assistants and personalized content creation will not only enhance your university’s appeal but also streamline the study journey and free up time for you to have more real conversations with them.
Are you ready to embrace the AI revolution in higher education? If you’re new to AI or seeking to enhance your understanding, RNL’s free online course, “AI Essentials for Higher Education Professionals,” is an excellent starting point. Equip yourself with the knowledge and skills needed to navigate this evolving landscape and ensure your institution remains at the forefront of student engagement. Start your AI education today!
AI is no longer a distant disruption. It’s already influencing how prospective students and families search, navigate, and make decisions on higher education websites. As teams responsible for delivering seamless digital experiences, we need to understand the behavioral shifts underway and how to respond strategically.
Across the institutions we support, we’re seeing early but consistent signals: users expect smarter, faster, and more personalized interactions. These changes are subtle in some places and dramatic in others. But they’re accelerating.
How AI is changing search behavior
AI tools like Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE), ChatGPT, and other large language models are changing how people expect to interact with information. According to a 2023 Pew Research study, 58% of U.S. adults are aware of ChatGPT, and younger audiences are among the most active users. Meanwhile, Google continues testing SGE, which presents AI-generated summaries above traditional search results.
Students are learning to type full, natural language questions — and they expect precise, context-aware responses in return. This behavior is now showing up in on-site search patterns.
Across higher ed websites, here are a few things we’re noticing:
A rise in long-form, conversational search queries, especially within internal site search tools
Increased use of search bars over menu navigation (particularly on mobile). A recent E-Expectations Trend report found that half of high school students use the site search to navigate a website.
Across the higher ed websites we support, we see stronger performance on pages that are tailored to high-intent topics like cost, admissions, and outcomes. A recent analysis of over 200 higher ed sites found that 53% of engaged sessions come from organic search — highlighting the importance of content that’s built for both SEO and AI-driven discovery.
Additionally, research indicates that 80% of high school juniors and seniors consider an institution’s website the most influential resource when exploring schools. This highlights the critical role of personalized and relevant content in engaging prospective students effectively.
These findings emphasize the necessity for higher education institutions to develop and maintain website content that is specifically tailored to the needs and questions of their target audiences to enhance engagement and support enrollment goals.
Parents and adult learners demonstrate similar behavior as they vet institutions with a clearer sense of goals and outcomes.
Ready for a Smarter Way Forward?
Higher ed is hard — but you don’t have to figure it out alone. We can help you transform challenges into opportunities.
We still need to get the fundamentals right
It’s important to say: AI-driven search doesn’t eliminate the need for strong site structure. Navigation menus, clear page hierarchy, and thoughtful content design still matter — a lot. Most users move fluidly between browsing and searching. What’s changing is the expectation for speed, relevance, and control.
To meet this moment, higher ed websites should focus on:
Modernizing internal search tools to move beyond keyword matching and support relevance-based or semantic search with tools like Vertex AI in full-site search tools or even program finders.
Designing content around user intent, not just institutional priorities. Emphasize topics that students are searching for — like affordability, flexibility, and outcomes — rather than internal program structures or catalog-style descriptions.
Making calls to action easy to find and easy to act on (especially for first-time visitors.) We help partners optimize for conversion with AB testing for placement, messaging, and functionality that best resonates with your audience.
Better leveraging personalized and dynamic content to deliver tailored experiences based on user behavior, location, or stage in the journey. For instance, high-intent pages like “How to Apply” can be leveraged to serve personalized content blocks based on the visitor’s context. A returning user who previously viewed graduate programs might see a prompt to schedule a call with a graduate admissions counselor. A visitor browsing from New York in the evening hours could be shown a message about flexible online options for working professionals. These dynamic cues guide prospective students forward in their journey without overhauling the entire site.
Why this isn’t a one-time fix
This is not a single redesign or one-time upgrade. Optimizing your site for how people actually use it needs to be a continuous process.
This should include the following:
Reviewing analytics and user behavior regularly
Conducting search query audits to identify gaps
A/B testing calls to action and user pathways
Collecting both qualitative and quantitative research to understand different audience needs
Higher ed website performance is directly tied to enrollment growth. According to a 2024 survey conducted by UPCEA and Collegis Education to better understand the perspectives of post-baccalaureate students, 62% of respondents said not being able to easily find basic program information on the institution’s website would cause them to disengage.
The survey focuses on program preferences, delivery methods, and expectations during the inquiry and application processes and offered insights into how these preferences vary by age and degree level.
How to prepare for what’s next
To stay competitive and relevant, institutions need to invest in both smart search experiences and a streamlined digital journey. Here are some high-level recommendations:
Audit your internal search functionality. How are users searching your site, and are they getting the right results?
Map user journeys for key audiences. This includes traditional students, adult learners, and family decision-makers.
Evaluate AI integration options. Tools like Google’s Vertex AI or other semantic search platforms can enhance search accuracy and personalization.
Don’t overlook AEO (answer engine optimization). As AI-powered tools reshape how students discover and evaluate schools, it’s time to think beyond traditional SEO. AEO focuses on structuring content to directly answer the natural-language questions students now ask in tools like ChatGPT and Google’s SGE. We can help you begin integrating AEO into your strategy and content planning, so your institution stays visible in the next wave of search.
Treat optimization as ongoing. Staying competitive in the AI era requires continuous improvements grounded in data, user behavior, and evolving search trends. Ongoing commitment to this initiative is crucial.
Smarter web experiences start now
The future of higher ed websites isn’t just about making information accessible. It’s about making it findable, meaningful, and actionable – and being able to act fast and stay committed to this work.
Institutions that recognize how AI is already reshaping user expectations, and respond with thoughtful, strategic digital experiences, will meet today’s learners where they are and build trust for the long-term.
We’re paying close attention to these shifts and helping institutions make smart, scalable updates. If you’re rethinking how your website supports recruitment, engagement, or conversion, now is the right time to start. Collegis Education supports institutions with strategic marketing and web solutions designed to meet these evolving needs.
Let’s talk about how we can work together to future proof your web and digital experiences to best support enrollment growth for years to come.
See how your website stacks up — Contact us to request your AI Readiness Assessment.
Innovation Starts Here
Higher ed is evolving — don’t get left behind. Explore how Collegis can help your institution thrive.
How does student satisfaction at HBCUs compare to institutions nationally?
Student satisfaction is a critical component for student success. At RNL, we have observed that satisfaction can vary based on the institution type. Student satisfaction levels at a four-year private may differ from a four-year public. In addition, we have seen that students at schools with a specific identity or mission (such as Christian colleges) may also have different levels of satisfaction. This is why it is helpful for institutions to have an external perspective for comparing their satisfaction scores with institutions that are most like theirs—by type, region of the country, or by the particular population of students they serve.
The value and impact of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) is well known and documented. HBCUs play a crucial role in advancing educational equity, fostering leadership, and preparing students to excel in a global workforce. Despite comprising roughly 3% of U.S. colleges and universities, HBCUs produce nearly a quarter of all Black graduates, with impact extending beyond academic preparation, serving as powerful engines of economic growth, providing supportive learning environments, and culturally affirming communities at critical times in the student development cycle.
HBCUs have experienced a surge in student interest over the past several years, leading many campuses to review and refine recruitment and student success strategies. As a result of the increased prioritization of student satisfaction, over the past three years, RNL has created a national comparison group of four-year private and public HBCUs, offering the best external comparison by which institutions may compare themselves. These data can also inform our understanding of the student experience at HBCUs.
How satisfied are students attending HBCUs?
The RNL Student Satisfaction Inventory (SSI) is a survey instrument that measures student satisfaction and priorities. The assessment informs campuses of satisfaction levels of various aspects of the student experience, including instructional effectiveness, academic advising, and recruitment and financial aid. The assessment then identifies how those satisfaction levels affect student decisions related to persistence. Over the past three academic years (2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24), 8,938 students attending 20 HBCUs have completed the SSI, providing an opportunity for us to assess their satisfaction and compare it to students at other four-year public or private institutions.
Why do students choose HBCUs?
The SSI asks students to rate the importance of factors that influenced their decision to enroll at their college or university. When we explore the results for students at HBCUs compared with students at the other two institution types, we see the following levels of importance placed on each factor:
Note the higher importance levels HBCU students placed on recommendations from family and friends, underscoring the importance of highlighting student and alumni outcomes. These results invite university leaders, including admissions and enrollment officers, institutional advancement/transformation officers, and leadership within alumni affairs, to consider how they are positioning various factors and what messaging they may want to emphasize throughout the recruitment process.
As this chart on overall perceptions indicates, students at HBCUs have lower levels over overall satisfaction and were less likely to say they would re-enroll at their institution if they had to do it all over again compared to four-year institutions nationally. Although several factors may contribute to differences in satisfaction levels, this indicates that there is potential for improvement in serving students at HBCUs and meeting their expectations. Several factors may contribute to the differences in satisfaction levels. The call to action, however, is clear—campuses must create and implement concrete action plans to address high priority concerns.
The Power of Institutional Choice
For years, RNL has noted that students attending their first-choice institution tend to have higher satisfaction than students attending their second- or third-choice institution. Ideally, an institution should strive to have the majority population believe the institution is their first choice, to be in the best position for higher satisfaction scores. In this HBCU data set, the impact of institutional choice is clearly seen. As illustrated in the chart below, only 47% of students indicate that the HBCU was their first choice, as compared with 64% of students at four-year public nationally and 63% of students at four-year private institutions.
While these two charts look similar, the second one shows the percentage of students who said they were satisfied or very satisfied with their experience based on whether they thought the school was their first-, second- or third-choice. These percentages decline considerably for students who did not want to attend the institution.
This indicates that HBCUs have an opportunity to better position themselves as a first-choice institution for the population of students they are actively recruiting and to communicate why their college is the best fit and the best option for the student. Larger sample sizes from HBCU campuses could further assist with understanding the impact of institutional choice on satisfaction levels.
Many strengths and a few challenges
The SSI asks students to indicate both a level of importance and a level of satisfaction with a variety of student experiences both inside and outside of the classroom. The combination of these scores lead to the identification of strengths (high importance and high satisfaction) and challenges (high importance and low satisfaction). Strengths and challenges are identified for individual institutions administering the survey instrument and can also be indicated for the national comparison data sets.
When we reviewed the national HBCU group of 8,938 students, more strengths than challenges were identified.
Strengths
My academic advisor is knowledgeable about requirements in my major.
Major requirements are clear and reasonable.
I am able to experience intellectual growth here.
Tutoring services are readily available.
Nearly all of the faculty are knowledgeable in their field.
My academic advisor is approachable.
The content of the courses within my major is valuable.
Library resources and services are adequate.
There is a strong commitment to racial harmony on this campus.
Faculty are usually available after class and during office hours.
There is a commitment to academic excellence on this campus.
Class change (drop/add) policies are reasonable.
Student disciplinary procedures are fair.
The student center is a comfortable place for students to spend their leisure time.
Library staff are helpful and approachable.
Bookstore staff are helpful.
While many of these strengths overlap with what we see in the national four-year private and public data sets, it is still noteworthy to highlight that, despite the generally lower satisfaction scores at HBCUs, there are still many areas to celebrate. Students value the support received by faculty and staff. Students appreciate the availability of academic resources. Students are highly appreciative that their campus communities are accepting and affirming of who they are and support who they are seeking to become.
Challenges
Only five challenges were identified in the national HBCU data set:
I am able to register for classes I need with few conflicts.
Tuition paid is a worthwhile investment.
Security staff respond quickly in emergencies.
This institution shows concern for students as individuals.
Faculty provide timely feedback about student progress in a course.
Again, most of these items overlap with challenges identified at the other institution types, which says that the experience students are having at HBCUs may be more similar than it is different. However, that does not discount the fact that the HBCUs bring something special to the marketplace for students.
Survey your students
While observing national norms is valuable, the greatest value comes when institutions survey their own student populations to determine satisfaction levels and to see specific strengths and challenges that apply to their college or university. Please contact Julie Bryant if you are interested in learning more about assessing student satisfaction on your campus. If you are an HBCU, RNL will provide the additional comparison group of just HBCUs to you at no additional charge.
RNL supports HBCUs through various initiatives aimed at enhancing enrollment, student success, and fundraising efforts. Key contributions include:
Annual HBCU Summit: RNL organizes a yearly summit tailored for HBCU leaders to network, share data, exchange ideas, and develop actionable plans for immediate campus implementation. This year’s summit will take place July 21 in Atlanta, Georgia, and will focus on marketing, recruitment, student success strategies, the impact of trends and technology on HBCUs and the impact sociopolitical climate shifts will have on operational strategy.
Dedicated team for HBCUs: RNL has an established team of senior-level consultants focused on supporting HBCUs. I lead this team, and we aim to help institutions enhance service to students, meet enrollment and revenue goals, and fulfill their mission.
Through these efforts, RNL demonstrates a commitment to empowering HBCUs with the tools and knowledge necessary to thrive in a competitive educational landscape.
2025 RNL HBCU Summit
July 21, 2025 in Atlanta
Join us for this one-day Summit held before the RNL National Conference. You’ll hear key strategies for meeting your goals for marketing, recruitment, and retention. Registration is complimentary when you also register for the RNL National Conference.
COLUMBIA — Hundreds of 4-year-olds across South Carolina are on waitlists to access state-funded preschool programs, even though there are thousands of open seats, according to a report presented Monday to the state Education Oversight Committee.
The state funds a dual system of full-day kindergarten for 4-year-olds deemed “at risk.” Students are eligible under state law if they qualify for Medicaid or free or reduced-price meals, or if they are homeless, in foster care or show developmental delays. Many public school districts use local property tax dollars to expand that eligibility.
The state Department of Education oversees programs in public schools, while First Steps, a separate state agency, oversees state-funded classes in approved private schools and child care centers.
As of November, 400 4-year-olds were waiting for spots to open up to enroll at their local public school. At the same time, First Steps 4K reported more than 2,300 open seats, often in the same counties as the districts with the longest waitlists, according to the report.
“It’s just a matter of finding an open seat for a child on a waitlist or finding an eligible child for the open seat,” said Jenny May, a committee researcher who presented the report.
Because 4K is a one-year program, students who are on the waitlist are unlikely to end up in a preschool program before starting kindergarten. Children need at least 120 days of preschool to prepare, so even if a slot happens to open up toward the end of the school year, they will start kindergarten less ready than other 5-year-olds, according to the study.
It’s not clear why some 4-year-olds are on a waiting list for a public school when vacancies exist in private programs, May said.
In some cases, the issue could be that another preschool program isn’t available nearby. The four counties with the longest waitlists — Lexington, Anderson, Berkeley and Newberry — all have at least one First Steps 4K program with availability, according to the report. However, that doesn’t account for potential cross-county drives.
Other parents may not know that other options are available, May said. Having a person designated to help direct parents to other preschool options, such as the nearest First Steps 4K program with open seats, could help reduce that waitlist, May said.
“It’s likely that if we had a more efficient process, we could serve most of the 400 kids on a waitlist on one of the First Steps seats,” May said.
The state already has several websites meant to help parents figure out what programs they’re eligible for and how to enroll. Palmetto Pre-K, launched in 2020, tells parents whether they’re eligible for state-funded preschool programs. First Five SC does the same but includes all early childhood programs with federal or state funding.
But having a person parents can call, or who can reach out to families with children on waitlists, could help reach some parents who might not know about the websites or have other concerns, the study suggests. That person, who the committee dubbed a 4K navigator, could then talk parents through the differences in programs, find available seats and answer any other questions parents might have, researchers said.
First Steps 4K has a similar program, in which applicants are directed to a central phone line or website that helps parents find the right fit for their child. That has helped prevent First Steps from having its own waitlist, May said. The 4K navigators, who the study suggested trying out in areas with the largest waitlists first, would have a broader knowledge of pre-K programs, the report said.
If a school district has a persistent waitlist of more than 20 students, that suggests the population has risen in that area, and state officials should consider giving the district more funding to create enough slots for those students, the report suggested.
The waitlisted students represent less than 1% of students who are eligible for the program but not enrolled. More than 18,000 4-year-olds, or about 55% of all eligible, are living in poverty but not enrolled in a 4K program, according to the report.
That’s a decrease from the 2022-2024 school year, when 60% of eligible students were not enrolled in districts. Still, it’s not enough, May said.
Even if every student on a waitlist enrolled in one of the available spots, programs would have space left over to take on at least 1,900 more students, according to the report. That suggests there are barriers other than program space keeping parents from enrolling their students in state-funded preschool, May said.
In many cases, the problem might be that parents don’t know about 4K programs or their benefits, May said. The state should put more funding and effort into outreach to help those students, the report suggests.
Data shows preschool programs are highly beneficial, helping students learn skills in reading, math and socialization, studies have found. According to the report, at-risk students who attended a state-funded pre-K program were more likely to be prepared for school than their counterparts who didn’t, according to the report.
“So, we want those students who are eligible and not served to be able to access it, and we definitely want those students who are on a waitlist to be able to access the program,” said Dana Yow, executive director of the committee.
SC Daily Gazette is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. SC Daily Gazette maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Seanna Adcox for questions: [email protected].
Let’s cut to it: Higher ed is sprinting toward the AI revolution with its shoelaces untied.
Presidents are in boardrooms making bold declarations. Provosts are throwing out buzzwords like “machine learning” and “predictive modeling.” Enrollment and marketing teams are eager to automate personalization, deploy chatbots, and rewrite campaigns using tools like ChatGPT.
Not because you’re not visionary. Not because your teams aren’t capable. But because your data is a disaster.
AI is not an easy button
Somewhere along the way, higher ed started treating AI like a miracle shortcut — a shiny object that could revolutionize enrollment, retention, and student services overnight.
But AI isn’t a magic wand. It’s more like a magnifying glass, exposing what’s underneath.
If your systems are fragmented, your records are outdated, and your departments are still hoarding spreadsheets like it’s 1999, AI will only scale the chaos. It won’t save you – it’ll just amplify your problems.
When AI goes sideways
Take the California State University system. They announced their ambition to become the nation’s first AI-powered public university system. But after the headlines faded, faculty across the system were left with more questions than answers. Where was the strategy? Who was in charge? What’s the plan?
The disconnect between vision and infrastructure was glaring.
Elsewhere, institutions have already bolted AI tools onto outdated systems, without first doing the foundational work. The result? Predictive models that misidentify which students are at risk. Dashboards that contradict themselves. Chatbots that confuse students more than they support them.
This isn’t an AI failure. It’s a data hygiene failure.
You don’t need hype — You need hygiene
Before your institution invests another dollar in AI, ask these real questions:
Do we trust the accuracy of our enrollment, academic, and financial data?
Are we still manually wrangling CSVs each month just to build reports?
Do our systems speak the same language, or are they siloed and outdated?
Is our data governance robust enough to ensure privacy, security, and usefulness?
Have we invested in the unglamorous but essential work (e.g., integration pipelines, metadata management, and cross-functional alignment)?
If the answer is “not yet,” then congratulations — you’ve found your starting point. That’s your AI strategy.
Because institutions that are succeeding with AI, like Ivy Tech Community College, didn’t chase the trend. They built the infrastructure. They did the work. They cleaned up first.
What true AI readiness looks like (a not-so-subtle sales pitch)
Let’s be honest: there’s no shortage of vendors selling the AI dream right now. Slick demos, lofty promises, flashy outcomes. But most of them are missing the part that actually matters — a real, proven plan to get from vision to execution.
This is where Collegis is different. We don’t just sell transformation. We deliver it. Our approach is grounded in decades of experience, built for higher ed, and designed to scale.
Here’s how we help institutions clean up the mess and build a foundation that makes AI actually work:
Strategy + AI alignment: Tech that knows where it’s going
We don’t just implement tools. We align technology to your mission, operational goals, and student success strategy. And we help you implement AI ethically, with governance frameworks that prioritize transparency and accountability.
Analytics that drive action
We transform raw data into real insights. From integration and warehousing to dashboards and predictive models, we help institutions interpret what’s really happening — and act on it with confidence.
Smarter resource utilization
We help you reimagine how your institution operates. By identifying inefficiencies and eliminating redundancies, we create more agile, collaborative workflows that maximize impact across departments.
Boosted conversion and retention
Our solutions enable personalized student engagement, supporting the full lifecycle from inquiry to graduation. That means better conversion rates, stronger persistence, and improved outcomes.
AI wins when the infrastructure works
Clean data isn’t a project — it’s a prerequisite. It’s the thing that makes AI more than a buzzword. More than a dashboard. It’s what turns hype into help.
And when you get it right, the impact is transformational.
“The level of data mastery and internal talent at Collegis is some of the best-in-class we’ve seen in the EdTech market. When you pair that with Google Cloud’s cutting-edge AI innovation and application development, you get a partnership that can enable transformation not only at the institutional level but within the higher education category at large.”
— Brad Hoffman, Director, State & Local Government and Higher Education, Google
There are no shortcuts to smart AI
AI can only be as effective as the foundation it’s built on. Until your systems are aligned and your data is trustworthy, you’re not ready to scale innovation.
If you want AI to work for your institution — really work — it starts with getting your data house in order. Let’s build something that lasts. Something that works. Something that’s ready.
Curious what that looks like? Let’s talk. We’ll help you map out a real, achievable foundation for AI in higher ed.
You stuck with me to the end? I like you already! Let’s keep the momentum going. If your wheels are turning and you’re wondering where to start, our Napkin Sketch session might be the perfect next step. It’s a fast, collaborative way to map out your biggest data and tech challenges—no pressure, no sales pitch, just a conversation. Check it out!
Innovation Starts Here
Higher ed is evolving — don’t get left behind. Explore how Collegis can help your institution thrive.
