Tag: University

George Mason University violated civil rights law, Education Department alleges
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Dive Brief:
- The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights alleged Friday that Virginia’s George Mason University has violated civil rights law by illegally using race and other protected characteristics in its hiring and promotion practices.
- Craig Trainor, the office’s acting assistant secretary for civil rights, accused George Mason President Gregory Washington of waging a “university-wide campaign to implement unlawful DEI policies that intentionally discriminate on the basis of race.”
- Under the Trump administration, Trainor and other officials have set their sights on diversity, equity and inclusion programs and other policies that were designed to help historically disadvantaged groups.
Dive Insight:

George Mason has faced a torrent of investigations in recent weeks from the Trump administration, including probes into whether the university is practicing discriminatory hiring and admissions and adequately responding to antisemitism on campus.

The most recent allegations from the Education Department, announced just six weeks after it opened the probe, said the agency determined that the university violated Title VI. The civil rights law bars federally funded institutions from discriminating based on race, color or national origin.

The agency gave George Mason, which is located near Washington, D.C., 10 days to agree with the Trump administration’s proposal to voluntarily resolve the alleged violations.

Under the proposed agreement, Washington would have to release a statement saying the university’s hiring and promotion practices will comply with Title VI and explaining the steps for submitting a discrimination complaint.

The university would also have to review its employment policies, conduct annual training for all employees involved in hiring and promotion decisions, and maintain and share records with the federal government upon request to prove compliance.

The agreement would also require Washington to apologize to the university community “for promoting unlawful discriminatory practices in hiring, promotion, and tenure processes,” the Education Department said.

In a Friday statement, George Mason’s governing board said the Education Department notified it of the violation, and it will review the proposed resolution and fully respond to government inquiries.

“Our sole focus is our fiduciary duty to serve the best interests of the University and the people of the Commonwealth of Virginia,” the board said.

The Education Department said it opened the investigation following a complaint from multiple George Mason professors who alleged that university leadership has implemented policies that give preferential treatment to underrepresented groups since 2020.

The agency pointed to a 2021 statement from Washington as evidence of “support for racial preferencing.”

In it, Washington said that leaders wanted staff and faculty to reflect the diversity of the student population. “This is not code for establishing a quota system,” he added. “It is a recognition of the reality that our society’s future lies in multicultural inclusion.”

He noted that a majority of George Mason’s students weren’t White, yet only 30% of the university’s faculty were part of a ethnic minority group, were multi-ethnic or came from international communities. To achieve the university’s vision, officials should focus on both professional credentials and lived experiences when recruiting employees, he said.

“If you have two candidates who are both ‘above the bar’ in terms of requirements for a position, but one adds to your diversity and the other does not, then why couldn’t that candidate be better, even if that candidate may not have better credentials than the other candidate?” Washington said at the time.

On Friday, the Education Department also cited several George Mason policies it said violated Title VI, including one it said appeared on the university’s website in 2024. The policy said officials could forgo a competitive search process for faculty members when “there is an opportunity to hire a candidate who strategically advances the institutional commitment to diversity and inclusion,” the agency said.

Washington, George Mason’s first Black president, pushed back on the Education Department’s allegations when it first opened the investigation. In a July 16 statement, he said that the university’s promotion and tenure policies don’t give preferential treatment based on race or other protected characteristics.

He also pointed to a “profound shift in how Title VI is being applied.”

“Longstanding efforts to address inequality — such as mentoring programs, inclusive hiring practices, and support for historically underrepresented groups — are in many cases being reinterpreted as presumptively unlawful,” he said.

The U.S. Department of Justice has also opened several investigations into George Mason, including one over its hiring and promotion practices.

Another DOJ probe is looking into the university’s Faculty Senate after its members approved a resolution supporting Washington and the diversity initiatives following the federal investigations, according to The New York Times. The agency has demanded internal communications from the Faculty Senate as part of its investigation.

Todd Wolfson, president of the American Association of University Professors slammed the probe shortly after it was announced.

“Let’s call this what it is: a gross misuse of federal power to chill speech, silence faculty members, and undermine shared governance,” he said in a July statement. “It is an attack on academic freedom, plain and simple.”
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August 22, 2025
Federal Agency Finds George Mason University Violated Civil Rights Law Through DEI Policies

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has determined that George Mason University violated federal civil rights law by using race as a factor in hiring and promotion decisions, the agency announced on Friday.

The finding concluded that GMU violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, and national origin in federally funded education programs. The university now has 10 days to accept a proposed resolution agreement or risk losing federal funding.

Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor said President Gregory Washington led “a university-wide campaign to implement unlawful DEI policies that intentionally discriminate on the basis of race.”

“You can’t make this up,” Trainor said in a statement, noting that Washington had previously called for removing “racist vestiges” from campus in 2020.

The investigation, launched in July 2025, stemmed from complaints filed by multiple GMU professors who alleged the university adopted preferential treatment policies for faculty from “underrepresented groups” between 2020 and the present.

Federal investigators said that they found several problematic practices. As recently as fall 2024, they argue that the university’s website stated it “may choose to waive the competitive search process when there is an opportunity to hire a candidate who strategically advances the institutional commitment to diversity and inclusion.”

The current Faculty Handbook also requires approval from the “Office of Access, Compliance, and Community” – previously called the “Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” until GMU renamed it in March 2025 – before extending job offers.

One high-level administrator told investigators that Washington “created an atmosphere of surveillance” regarding hiring decisions related to diversity objectives.

Under the proposed resolution agreement, Washington must personally issue a statement and apology to the university community, acknowledging the discriminatory practices. The university must also revise hiring policies, conduct annual training, and remove any provisions encouraging racial preferences.

GMU must post the presidential statement prominently on its website and remove any contradictory materials. The university would also be required to maintain compliance records and designate a coordinator to work with federal officials.

George Mason University, located in Fairfax, Virginia, enrolls approximately 39,000 students and receives federal funding that could be at risk if the violations are not resolved.

George Mason officials said that they are reviewing the specific resolution steps proposed by the Department of Education.

“We will continue to respond fully and cooperatively to all inquiries from the Department of Education, the Department of Justice and the U.S. House of Representatives and evaluate the evidence that comes to light,” the university said in a statement. “Our sole focus is our fiduciary duty to serve the best interests of the University and the people of the Commonwealth of Virginia.”

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August 22, 2025
A Strategic Blueprint for University Administrators
The higher education sector is navigating an era of rapid change. Shifting demographics, declining traditional enrollment and evolving workforce needs are redefining the value proposition for universities. Coupled with budget and staffing pressures, it can seem daunting to university leaders to understand how to begin the transformation that universities are being asked to undertake.

Workforce-relevant credentials, such as microcredentials, certificates and industry-aligned badges, are emerging as strategic tools to expand institutional reach, respond to employer demand and deliver measurable career impact for learners. These can be delivered separately from your degree curriculum, embedded within the degree pathway or both.

Universities face stagnant enrollments, skepticism about ROI and mounting pressure to innovate. Traditional degree pathways alone are no longer enough to address these headwinds. This blueprint provides university leaders with a road map to implement credentialing initiatives that align with market demand, institutional mission and long-term sustainability.

The Why: Building the Case Internally

Building the internal case to expend the time and energy to realign curricular offerings can be daunting at times of resource scarcity. But the reality is that from an enrollment perspective, it’s simply good planning to be looking ahead and identifying new markets for your institution. And the population that holds the most promise of growth for higher education today is the adult learner—a segment that is growing fast.

These students are often midcareer professionals, job changers or individuals seeking rapid upskilling. They may already have a bachelor’s degree or a workforce credential, or they may be a part of the 43.1 million learners with some credit but no degree. Of those, 37.6 million represent working-age adults under the age of 65. These learners will value short, targeted, career-aligned learning experiences that fit into busy lives. How are you identifying and connecting with these learners and who are the employer partners that you can engage with?

By integrating stackable, workforce-relevant credentials into academic offerings, institutions can diversify revenue, attract new learners and showcase agility in meeting labor market needs. Graduates gain targeted skills, boosting employability and alumni engagement. Their success positions the university as a trusted partner for every career stage.

How to Start

Exploring innovative credentialing is a great tool in your strategic enrollment management planning toolbox. Such initiatives can be supportive of your enrollment goals and also provide some answers to the public questions around the ROI for their tuition dollars. You might be well on your way on the journey to strengthening the connection between learning and the workforce, or you might be just beginning. The reality is that educational institutions may already have some of the building blocks in place, and a slight shift in how you package and document your educational programs could put you on the right path.

While any credential could be industry-aligned, it might be easiest to begin with smaller, incremental credentials, either independently or aligned to current degree programs. For adult learners, short, skill-based and industry-aligned programs offer an immediate career payoff while potentially stacking toward degrees.

A well-designed workforce offering needs to be aligned with industry-trusted credentials and certifications and should ultimately layer with your traditional academic programs and offer a clear connection to employment-relevant skills. Investing in this work today will create short-term enrollment gains and help you to build long-term relationships with learners and employers who will turn to you again and again to meet their upskilling needs. These will also speak to your undergraduate degree learners (and their parents) by creating a direct link to return on investment.
Defining Workforce-Relevant Credentials

Degree: Academic credential or qualifications awarded to a learner who has successfully completed a specified course of study in a particular field or discipline.

Certificate: Official documentation indicating completion of purposefully collected coursework to signify understanding of a narrow subject or topic. May also confirm acquisition of specific skills.

Microcredential: Competency or skills-based recognition that allows a learner to demonstrate mastery and learning in a particular area. Less than a full degree or certificate; it is a segment of learning achievement or outcome. Should be certified by a recognized authority.

Badge: Digital visual representation that recognizes skills, achievements, membership affiliation and participation.
Build a Cross-Campus Team

To successfully build new innovative credentials requires a collaborative approach, the creation of a planning team that aligns academic, enrollment, tech, marketing and employer-engagement strategies holistically. At a minimum, this includes faculty, the registrar’s office, enrollment management, your continuing-education division, education technology and your finance officer.

A second layer to support learner success should also include advising, student services and career services. Chosen well, this team will be key to help ensure that you maintain compliance with accreditation or governance requirements in addition to designing an attractive and relevant program. Building the internal case across the campus with these leaders will help you to create the buy-in required to balance innovation and agility with compliance.

Aligning Credentials With Institutional Mission

Any workforce credentials offered by an institution should support and complement, not compete with, existing degree pathways. To ensure this alignment, consider embedding programs within academic departments and continuing education units. Be sure to involve faculty early to ensure rigor, buy-in and shared governance.

And don’t forget to map credentials to degree pathways for seamless learner progression. Make it easy for an adult learner to become a lifelong learner. Innovative credentials can serve as entry ramps to degree programs, be embedded into degrees or stand alone. Start with pilots and focus on high-demand, high-return fields.

Consider Technology

Ultimately, when making learning and credential platform decisions, you should seek to prioritize interoperable, learner-centered technologies that enhance the portability of records and improve coordination across institutions. Digital solutions that prioritize transparency, accuracy and accessibility help to create a more connected and responsive learning ecosystem, ensuring that learners can move seamlessly through their educational and career pathways, with their achievements recognized and understood wherever they go.

Building the Adult Learner Pipeline

As in any new program, you must do your research. Review your institution’s most recent environmental scan to support prioritization of your best opportunities. If that scan is not current or doesn’t include market intelligence that leverages labor market analytics and employer feedback, you will need to collect that information to ensure offerings are demand-driven.
- Outreach and messaging. Frequently, the effectiveness of the institution’s communications with prospective and current students comes under scrutiny: the quality of technology, the delivery modes, timing, the content and the coordination. Prepare for these concerns by outlining what the college is currently doing and who the stakeholders are. Messaging for innovative credentials will be inherently different than messaging for a degree. Promote credentials as high-value, low-barrier entry points for upskilling or career change.
- Leveraging partnerships. Consider your service area and inventory your partnerships. Collaborate with employers, workforce boards and government agencies to co-design, fund or endorse programs. Convene regional advisory councils to keep offerings aligned with workforce trends. It is important that these relationships are current and agile so that credentials can respond to shifting workforce needs in real time. Explore grants, workforce investment funds and employer cost-sharing opportunities that may help defray your costs and those of your learners.
- Developing support structures. All learners need support, which might need to look somewhat different for adult learners than your traditional degree support. Offer advising, prior learning assessment and flexible credit pathways to maximize learner success.
- Considering assessment and data collection. Nationally, there is a call for more transparency and more data that proves ROI. This means that more data collection from learners up front and better tracking of outcomes will be required. Data collection in the workforce credential space will give you valuable experience that you can apply to your degree programs as federal student aid requirements shift toward proving workforce outcomes.
A Call to Action for Institutional Leaders

Universities that strategically embrace workforce-relevant credentials will not only meet the needs of today’s learners but also strengthen employer partnerships and stand out in a crowded market. It’s more than launching new programs. It’s about reimagining the university as a future-facing institution that delivers lifelong value. The time to act is now: Start small, scale smart and lead with vision.
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August 22, 2025
ACTIVE SHOOTER” at Villanova University was a “cruel hoax.

News sources in the Philadelphia area were alerted today that there was an active shooter at Villanova University. Students received text messages and rushed for safety. About two hours later, the university President Rev. Peter M. Donohue called it a “cruel hoax.”

Campus hoaxes are not mere pranks. They are crimes and a dangerous reflection of a society where the line between reality and rumor blurs under the shadow of violence. Each false alarm chips away at the sense of security that universities promise their students. Until the United States addresses the root causes of both gun violence and the culture of fear it breeds, campus hoaxes will remain part of higher education’s uneasy reality.

The Broader Context: America’s Culture of Violence

The threat of harm is not abstract. In the U.S., campus shootings have become a recurring tragedy: Virginia Tech (2007), Northern Illinois University (2008), Umpqua Community College (2015), and Michigan State (2023), among many others. This context makes hoaxes especially dangerous: police and students cannot know in the moment whether the threat is real. A single misstep could cost lives.

Accountability and Prevention

Universities and local authorities have begun tracking and prosecuting hoaxes and swatting calls, but enforcement is difficult. Prevention may require better technology, coordinated responses, and clear communication with students. Most importantly, it requires addressing the broader conditions that make both real shootings and hoaxes possible: widespread access to firearms, untreated mental illness, and a culture desensitized to violence.

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August 21, 2025
Utah State University to face state audit amid concerns about former leader’s spending
Dive Brief:
- Utah State University will undergo a state audit following an initial review that found “concerns about USU’s governance, leadership, and culture of policy noncompliance.”
- At a Tuesday meeting, the state Legislature’s audit subcommittee voted unanimously to conduct a deeper review of the university, which will look at governance and procurement processes, particularly in the president’s office.
- The review comes amid reporting that Elizabeth Cantwell, the university’s former president, spent heavily on office remodeling and transportation during her tenure before departing earlier this year.
Dive Insight:

State legislative auditors raised issues with both spending practices and oversight controls at the highest levels of Utah State.

Under the heading of “leadership concerns,” they pointed to institutional purchase card transactions that “significantly increased” during the past two years compared to the preceding half decade.

Those increases occurred during the tenure of Cantwell, who was appointed president in 2023 and stepped down unexpectedly earlier this year to serve as president of Washington State University.

Alan Smith, dean of Utah State’s college of education and human services, is serving as interim president while the institution searches for a permanent leader.

This March, shortly after the announcement of Cantwell’s departure, Cache Valley Daily obtained public records of heavy spending during her tenure. The report noted a $285,000 office remodel that included more than $184,000 in furniture costs, over $800 in spending on mirrors and a $750 bidet toilet.

It also detailed several vehicles Cantwell used for transportation during her time at Utah State, including a new Toyota SUV and a $30,000 electric vehicle.

Auditors flagged purchase card spending during the past two years that “may be concerning due to the nature of the purchases, the dollar amounts involved, and the level of oversight.”

They also noted “issues with the amount spent on presidential motor vehicle assets in the last two years being almost triple the amount for the five years before.”

The review also raised concerns about how Utah State’s leaders acquired goods and services from third parties. Specifically, they found that some executive staff committed the university to contracts over $52,000 — and up to $430,000 — before completing the purchasing process.

Their report recommended a review of procurement policies, controls over open purchase orders, and spending and assets in the Utah State president’s office, as well as an evaluation of whether “governance and leadership at USU have the appropriate structure, tools, processes, culture, structure, and personnel in place to ensure success.”

On Tuesday, state lawmakers on the audit subcommittee called for a deep investigation of the university’s spending.

“I love Utah State. It’s a big part of my district, it employs a lot of people in my district,” one member told audit staff during the meeting. “But I have serious concerns about what is happening at Utah State right now, and so whatever latitude you feel that you need, I like to be part of authorizing that — as deep as you can go.”

Tessa White, chair of the university’s trustee board, voiced support for the state audit at the meeting.

“We welcome the audit,” White said. “There are areas that we are aware of and taking aggressive steps to remedy. We hope that by the time that your audit is done, we will have a whole list of things completed that will give you greater confidence in the school.”

Procurement policies and processes have come under fire at other public institutions as politicians and auditors home in on their spending practices.

Early this year, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham called for Western New Mexico University’s entire board of regents to resign after an auditing report surfaced spending by leadership that showed “a concerning lack of compliance with established university policies.”

A state audit late last year of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system found several financial transactions that violated institutional policies or lacked adequate documentation. That included some $19,000 in spending on food over two years by Chancellor Terrence Cheng.

In 2024, a state audit of University of Maryland Global Campus raised issues with leadership oversight of a spinoff nonprofit, pointing to — among other issues — a $25.7 million IT project that ended without a viable product.
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August 20, 2025
Minister gives TEQSA more university powers – Campus Review

Education Minister Jason Clare granted the university regulator’s wish for more power over universities at the Australian Financial Review Higher Education Summit on Tuesday.

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August 20, 2025
NSW inquiry into ‘university crisis’ – Campus Review

The NSW Upper House on Monday referred a Parliamentary inquiry into its universities to investigate and report on the “crisis” in the sector.

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August 20, 2025
University of Iowa launches ‘proactive’ committee to hunt for revenue and boost efficiency
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Dive Brief:
- The University of Iowa has assembled a massive universitywide committee to explore new revenue opportunities and ways to boost efficiency, the public institution announced last week.
- Dubbed “Resparc” — short for Revenue and Efficiencies Strategic Plan Action and Resource Committee — the group includes nearly 100 faculty, staff and officials from 35 units across the institution.
- Subcommittees will explore specific areas such as philanthropy, academic programs and financial operations. Those teams will develop proposals for increasing revenue and improving operations for Resparc’s leadership and ultimately for University of Iowa’s president and provost.
Dive Insight:

The university framed its new initiative as forward-looking, meant to ensure University of Iowa “maintains its strong financial trajectory for years to come,” rather than having to wrestle reactively with challenges as they happen.

“By launching this effort from a position of financial health, the university will be able to build upon its success at a time when higher education is navigating significant disruption, from the anticipated demographic enrollment cliff to a decline in public trust and growing financial constraints,” the university said in its announcement.

Iowa’s flagship university is growing. By fall 2024, its total faculty and staff had increased 5.1% year over year to 27,795 employees, while enrollment grew 2.4% to 32,199 students.

The university’s total assets and revenues have also been steadily rising in recent years. In fiscal 2024, its operating income — which does not include state appropriations, certain grants and contacts, investment income or gifts — stood at $36.8 million. The positive operating income stands in contrast to that of the many public universities with operating losses before those sources of revenue are factored in.

But University of Iowa officials acknowledged the challenges rippling across the higher ed landscape, including an anticipated decline in the traditional college-age population.

In Iowa specifically, the number of high school graduates is projected to decline by 4% from 2023 to 2041, according to the latest estimates from Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education.

University of Iowa has also seen its expenses jump along with the rest of the higher ed world, adding new financial constraints. Between fiscal years 2022 and 2024, its total operating expenses rose 15.7% to $5 billion.

The Trump administration’s aggressive moves to limit federal research funding could pose additional pressure. In 2024, University of Iowa brought in $315 million in federal research funding. The Trump administration has now terminated grants to the university worth roughly $14.3 million and having $9.7 million still left to be paid out, according to a Center for American Progress analysis of U.S. Department of the Treasury data.

Against that backdrop, many institutions — public and private — are cutting back spending and shrinking their employee base, both through layoffs and attrition. But University of Iowa officials say Resparc is different.

In a FAQ page, the university said the efficiency-seeking efforts are “a proactive planning effort, not a response to a budget crisis.” It states that the goal “is to find ways to work smarter, improve processes, reduce administrative burdens, and better leverage our collective resources and technology.”

Resparc is led by Emily Campbell, associate vice president for operations and decision support, and Sara Sanders, dean of the university’s liberal arts and sciences college.

Campbell and engineering dean Ann McKenna oversee the initiative’s revenue teams, while Sanders and Peter Matthes, vice president for external relations and senior advisor to University of Iowa President Barbara Wilson, oversee the efficiency group.
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August 19, 2025
Saint Francis University Omnichannel Marketing [Case Study]
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Lift in branded search volume

How Saint Francis University partnered with Collegis to unify messaging, modernize strategy, and reverse a decline in brand awareness through smarter, student-centered marketing.

For Saint Francis University (SFU), brand visibility in its home region has always been a strategic priority. But when internal metrics revealed a sustained decline in branded keyword search volume, the institution faced a clear challenge: how to grow awareness and demand without expanding the marketing budget.

In response, Collegis helped SFU pivot to an omnichannel marketing strategy, anchored in student journey insights and a refreshed creative campaign. The results: a 54% lift in branded search volume and a 2.7x increase in conversion rate for revamped search campaigns.
The Challenge

SFU had long expressed the goal of “owning their backyard,” but their declining search volume suggested a loss of mindshare among key audiences. The following factors made matters even more complex:

No additional budget was available to launch new campaigns

Prior creative had been in market for some time and didn’t reflect institutional differentiators

Previous media mix was focused solely on conversion and capturing demand – not strategically aligned to the prospective student journey.

This wasn’t just a search engine issue — it was a signal that SFU needed a more coordinated, brand-forward approach to digital marketing.

The Solution

To drive growth without increasing spend, Collegis partnered with SFU on a data-informed, omnichannel marketing strategy. We aligned messaging to institutional strengths and audience needs, with a focus on key campaign components:

Marketing insights & program strategy: Identified value drivers from enrollment data, like adult learner appeal and career-aligned programs

Creative campaign development: Launched the flexible “SFU Is…” concept to unify storytelling

Media management & channel expansion: Optimized campaigns and introduced new channels to lower CPAs and boost performance

This holistic approach elevated SFU’s visibility at high-intent moments in the student journey.
Maximizing Reach Without Raising Spend

After launching the new omnichannel strategy in September 2024, Saint Francis University saw immediate gains:
- +54% increase in average monthly impressions for branded search keywords
- 2.7x improvement in conversion rate for revamped search campaigns
- Enhanced lead quality and funnel progression
- Anecdotal feedback from university leadership highlighting strong excitement about both visibility and performance
By aligning creative, strategy, and media under a single narrative, SFU reclaimed share of voice — and did it without asking for more budget.

The Collegis Impact: By the Numbers

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Lift in branded search volume

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Increase in conversion rate

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Increase in new users

Erin McCloskey

VP of University Communications + Marketing, Saint Francis University

The Takeaway: Coordinated Campaigns Drive Measurable Growth

This case underscores the power of a strategic omnichannel approach, especially for smaller institutions navigating constrained budgets. With thoughtful execution and messaging that resonates across audiences, schools like SFU can still grow awareness, drive conversions, and own their space—online and off.

Let’s Make Your Marketing Work Smarter

The Saint Francis University case is a powerful example of what’s possible when strategy, creativity, and execution are aligned under one unified vision. By partnering with Collegis, SFU didn’t just stop the decline in search visibility — they reversed it, strengthened their regional presence, and achieved significantly better conversion performance, all without needing any additional budget.

If your institution is facing similar challenges — declining awareness, fragmented messaging, or flatlining campaign performance — an omnichannel strategy may be the path forward. Contact Collegis to learn how we can help you unlock growth, boost brand recognition, and better support students throughout their decision-making journey.

Let’s Start Writing Your Success Story

See what’s possible when strategy, creativity, and execution come together. Partner with Collegis to turn your challenges into outcomes worth sharing.

Facing challenges in enrollment, retention, or tech integration? Seeking growth in new markets? Our strategic insights pave a clear path for overcoming obstacles and driving success in higher education.

Unlock the transformative potential within your institution – partner with us to turn today’s roadblocks into tomorrow’s achievements. Let’s chat.
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August 15, 2025
How the BCA could reshape UK university recruitment in India and South Asia
When the UK government unveiled its immigration white paper in May, my first reaction was simple: “A step in the right direction.”

Buried among the many proposals, five key policy reforms stood out for their potential to reshape international student recruitment for UK universities. The headline-grabber on social media was the shortening of the Graduate Route from 24 months to 18 months. But, truth be told, that’s not the change keeping universities awake at night.

The real shake-up comes from the Basic Compliance Assessment (BCA) reforms, expected to roll out in September 2025, which will prove especially tough for smaller universities.

What’s changing?

From next year, UK universities sponsoring international students will face much stricter BCA benchmarks:
- Visa success rate: At least 95% of students issued a CAS must obtain their visa (up from 90%).
- Enrolment rate: Of those, 95% must enrol on their course (up from 90%).
- Completion rate: At least 90% must complete the course (up from 85%).
On paper, these increases might look like small percentage rises. In practice, they’re a gamechanger.

Why this is big

For years, many universities in the UK, both modern and traditional alike, have operated just above the current BCA thresholds, leaving little leeway for the inevitable drop-outs, deferrals, or visa refusals, especially from high-risk regions such as South Asia and Africa.

According to a recent story published by The PIE, quoting analysis from ApplyBoard’s study on visa refusal rates between Q1 2024 and the same period in 2025, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh saw a notable decline in visa grant rates.

Pakistan’s visa grant rate fell from 82% to 74%, while the other two countries saw even sharper declines: Bangladesh dropped 15 percentage points from 78% to 63%, and Nepal fell by 14 percentage points from 98% to 84% during the same period.

But now, with the bar raised, there’s far less margin for error. To comply, universities will have to halve their visa refusal rate from 10% to 5% and simultaneously boost enrolment and completion rates. That means rethinking recruitment pipelines, especially in regions like South Asia and Africa, where volumes are high but visa risks can be significant.

The good news, though, is that some of the biggest countries in high-risk regions, such as India, Nigeria and Ghana, have seen a marginal increase in visa grant rates, providing a sigh of relief for universities heavily recruiting from these countries.

Why smaller universities are nervous

Large universities enjoy a buffer. Recruit 10,000 international students in an intake, and a 5% refusal rate gives you room for up to 500 refusals before you breach the threshold.

Small universities, however, don’t have that luxury. If you enrol fewer than 100 international students, even a handful of refusals could push you into the danger zone. This forces smaller institutions to be extremely selective, tightening quality control on applications and perhaps narrowing the recruitment pool altogether.

It’s worth considering whether the MAC and UKVI might allow different levels of flexibility for smaller institutions. Applying the same standards across the board could be unfair, as not all institutions recruit in the same way or at the same scale.

A small, specialist provider in creative or performing arts, for example, will naturally draw fewer students than a comprehensive university offering everything from anthropology to zoology. Even among smaller universities, subject mix matters, as one with business, engineering and computing courses is likely to recruit far more students than another of the same size focused on niche disciplines such as veterinary science or agricultural studies.

The bottom line?

While the Graduate Route change has stolen the spotlight, the new BCA rules may well prove the bigger disruptor. For universities in the UK and recruiters in India and South Asia, September 2025 isn’t far away. The scramble to adapt has already begun.

How the BCA could reshape international recruitment

The impact of these changes will likely be felt in four major ways.

First and foremost, managing recruitment agents will become significantly more crucial. With visa refusal rates coming under intense scrutiny, universities will increasingly demand stricter compliance and accountability from their recruitment partners.

This will likely lead to more thorough vetting processes for agents, more stringent contractual agreements, and widespread implementation of standards such as the Agent Quality Framework (AQF).

Agents with consistently poor performance, particularly those associated with high visa refusal rates, will face swift removal from university-approved lists.

While the exact timeline for these changes is not yet clear, the immigration white paper also suggested the possibility of introducing a public “traffic light” system to display the BCA data of the universities transparently.

It would therefore be reasonable to expect a similar public database for recruitment agents available in the public domain, allowing universities easier access to detailed track records of agencies. This increased transparency will empower institutions to make more informed decisions about which agents to collaborate with.

Second, admissions processes will become more selective. This means deeper scrutiny of financial documents, academic readiness, and genuine study intent before issuing a CAS. Universities may introduce additional pre-CAS interviews, English proficiency re-checks, or even conditional academic bridging programs to ensure higher completion rates.

Selective treatment may be reintroduced as a strategy once again. Historically, many global universities have adopted region-specific recruitment policies, tailoring their approaches to different cities or states within the same country. These variations are often influenced by factors such as past visa approval rates, the academic calibre of students from particular areas, and key market insights.

In a vast and diverse market like India, this approach becomes especially relevant. Universities tend to exercise greater caution when recruiting from certain states compared to others, reflecting the complex demographic, economic, and educational landscape of the country.

This nuanced strategy allows institutions to optimise their recruitment efforts by focusing resources where the chances of success are higher, while managing risks in regions with less favourable indicators.

Finally, market focus could shift. Institutions heavily reliant on high-risk markets may diversify towards countries with stronger visa success rates, while in South Asia, universities may work more closely with fewer but higher-quality partners. In practice, this might mean fewer students being offered places, but with higher confidence that those who arrive will stay the course.

In essence, the proposed changes to the BCA thresholds signal a fundamental shift in how international student recruitment is approached. Rather than focusing primarily on sheer volume or the quantity of students recruited, the emphasis is moving decisively towards quality, ensuring that students admitted meet higher standards and contribute positively to the university community and the broader educational ecosystem.

This shift challenges universities to rethink their recruitment strategies, prioritising compliance, student success, and sustainable growth over simply hitting numerical targets. For institutions within the prestigious Russell Group as well as others across the sector, the ability to swiftly adapt to these new expectations will be critical.

Those that embrace the change and implement robust quality-focused recruitment processes will be the ones best positioned to maintain strong and healthy intake numbers in the evolving landscape. Ultimately, the future belongs to universities that recognise the importance of quality over quantity and act accordingly.
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August 13, 2025