- Are we built for the students we wish we had, or the ones actually knocking on our door?
Tomorrow’s students look nothing like those legacy systems were designed for. They’re older, busier, more pragmatic, and far more skeptical about the value of higher education. Many are exploring bootcamps, certificates, or stackable pathways instead of a degree. Meanwhile, most campus structures still revolve around the “traditional” student who graduates high school in May and moves into a dorm in August—a demographic that’s quietly shrinking.
To stay relevant, institutions need teams that move in sync across marketing, admissions, aid, and academics. They need data that flows freely across systems. Most of all, they need to understand students not just as prospects to be converted, but as people making high-stakes choices about their lives.
Ask yourself:
- Do we know what students are actually looking for or are we still promoting what’s always been offered?
- How simple (or frustrating) is it to move through your school’s enrollment process?
- Are policies designed around how students behave today or how we wish they would?
- How can we put AI to work without losing our humanity?
Artificial intelligence has moved from the periphery to the center of the enrollment world. It forecasts yield, drafts emails, and answers questions at 2 a.m. through chatbots. Every vendor promises transformation through predictive analytics or automation. But technology doesn’t replace strategy; it reveals whether we have one. And AI amplifies whatever we feed it: good data, clear intent, and human empathy — or their absence.
The best enrollment leaders are learning to read the algorithms as carefully as they read their audiences. They’re teaching their teams to question data sources, guard against bias, and use automation to extend human connection instead of crowding it out.
Ask yourself:
- Do we understand how our systems make predictions or do we just trust the dashboards?
- Are we using AI to personalize communication or simply to move faster?
- How do we maintain fairness, authenticity, and care in an era of machine learning?
- Are we leading through uncertainty or just surviving it?
The work of enrollment has become a test of endurance, perseverance, and imagination. Shrinking domestic pipelines, visa delays, and geopolitical tensions have made international recruitment unpredictable. Among US domestic audiences, skepticism about cost and value continues to climb. Inside our institutions, staff turnover chips away at momentum and morale.
These pressures demand a new kind of leadership that is steady, transparent, and collaborative. The most effective enrollment leaders now act as translators: turning policy into strategy, data into empathy, and institutional silos into partnerships. They create calm in complexity and purpose amid change.
Ask yourself:
- How are we helping our teams grow, learn, and stay grounded through transition?
- Is there a shared understanding across campus of what “success” looks like?
- Do we spend more time reacting to crises or proactively preparing for what’s next?
The Bottom Line
Strategic Enrollment Management for the future depends on curiosity, connection, and courage. It calls for leaders who use data wisely, trust people deeply, and build systems flexible enough to meet the moment. Technology will evolve. Markets will shift. Students will keep surprising us. The real differentiator will be whether our institutions can move with intention, guided not by fear of change but by confidence in their purpose.
