The New Path to Enrollment: Three Shifts Shaping College Choice

Based on survey responses from more than 9,500 students, this insight paper reveals what truly drives college enrollment decisions. It examines how anticipated AI-driven changes to the workforce, evolving search behaviors, and intensifying late-cycle competition are reshaping enrollment, and what leaders must do in response.

What you’ll learn:

• How competition is intensifying later in the cycle—and the strategies you can use to strengthen engagement, communicate value, and improve yield
• How cost concerns and AI-driven workforce uncertainty are changing perceptions of college value
• Which tools are gaining traction in college discovery and fit evaluation, and how use varies across key demographics