By the time your enrollment data tells you something is wrong, you've already lost 2 or 3 cycles of influence. Jeff Holeman makes the case for reading behavioral signals earlier, measuring awareness differently, and building presence before a student ever raises their hand.

Patrick Stone has spent 15 years in community college marketing. His take: most of it sounds like notes from an admissions meeting. Here's what it looks like when marketing owns its lane and actually builds presence.

Enrollment teams already have a word for students who apply with zero prior engagement. AI search changed the conditions that produce them, and it changed them at scale. Here's what that means for your enrollment funnel.

The Google I/O announcement got a lot of coverage. AI surfaces plenty of institutions — the ones that land are the ones that already feel familiar. If you've been making the case for awareness spend and losing the room, the data behind this moment is the strongest argument you've had yet.

In May 2026, Google made the biggest change to search in over 25 years. The way students discover and build their college lists changed with it. We dig into what happened, why it matters for the higher ed space, and where the real response sits.

When it comes to higher education, few topics matter more to Gen Z than money. Rising tuition costs and growing financial pressures mean that scholarships aren’t just helpful, they’re often the deciding factor in whether a student applies to or attends a school.

Scroll. Swipe. Skip. Today’s students are bombarded with content all day long, and their attention spans reflect it. While this frustrates some marketers, for higher education it’s actually an opportunity: students are still paying attention, they’re just paying attention differently.

Student marketing is full of big numbers like impressions, clicks, video views, and more. But here’s the truth: impressions don’t always equal influence. Colleges and universities are investing heavily in digital campaigns, yet many struggle to prove real impact on student decision-making.

Gen Z doesn’t consume media like previous generations. For colleges and universities, the challenge isn’t just “getting in front of them” it’s figuring out what kind of creative actually makes them stop, watch, and care.

When it comes to engaging high school students, not all content is created equal.