Community colleges are working harder than ever to grow enrollment, yet many students still find the admissions process confusing, impersonal, and slow. At a time when competition is intensifying and student expectations are rising, the ability to build trust and meaningful connections with prospective students is more critical than ever.
But that is easier said than done. Admissions and enrollment staff are stretched thin, juggling phone calls, emails, and other daily tasks. This leaves little time to focus on the relationships that matter most.
The question is: How can community colleges use AI to reduce the administrative burden so their teams can concentrate on what really counts — building authentic, lasting relationships with students?
To understand where students struggle and how colleges can better support them, EAB surveyed more than 1,000 current and incoming community college students about their onboarding experience.
In this insight paper, Break Through the Enrollment Bottleneck, we share six common enrollment breakdowns and explore how AI and technology can help colleges deliver faster, more personal support while expanding staff capacity.
Key findings include:
- Students want more personal interactions while enrolling at community college
- Staff are overwhelmed by manual information requests that limit student engagement
- Students want answers faster than colleges are providing them
- Many students are just one obstacle away from opting out entirely
- Onboarding efforts often overserve some students and underserve others
Download the paper to explore how your college can improve the onboarding experience for both students and staff.
Access the insight paper
This insight paper is available through EAB's Navigate360. Complete the form below for immediate access or log in.