Here’s the new higher education reality: with financial pressures mounting, yesterday’s investment strategies just don’t apply today. To find new students and retain existing ones, institutions need to shift their priorities—and their budgets—towards investments with higher-impact outcomes.
Start by renovating your digital space
It’s not just about staying relevant. It’s about being resilient in the face of new challenges and looking for agile solutions, and partners, that help put your resources where they count the most.
According to industry news, last year saw an increase in college closures and mergers, and significant funding cuts in 2025 are unlikely to change that trend. Even colleges and universities that can keep their doors open are scaling back campus expansions. As more institutions struggle to increase enrollments, new buildings just aren’t a top priority.
That doesn’t mean, though, that the student experience can take a backseat. Physical growth may be slowing, but digital transformation is stepping in to fill that gap. Institutions are instead prioritizing web strategy, CRM alignment, and other digital tools. The goal is to make the most of every student interaction from prospect through graduation and beyond.
This goes further than just having a faster, better-designed website (though making sure your website is optimized for performance is critical). It’s prioritizing user experience and increasing personalization to meet the needs of every prospect and student. It’s making sure your CRM aligns with your website, paid media, and people, so every touchpoint supports your enrollment strategy.
Your digital ecosystem is your new college campus. Make sure it’s working just as hard for you.
Let data drive your marketing strategy
You can’t afford a broad-reach campaign with no clear ROI. Prospects have too many choices, and without proper targeting you’ll waste time and money serving up ads to poor matches.
Instead, institutions need to prioritize investing in targeted media strategies that focus directly on their ideal prospects. Building campaigns that are laser-focused on enrollment goals help connect the right messages to the right audiences. This may mean targeting new high school grads in a specific geographic region or prospects interested in hyper-niche graduate programs. The more tailored the messaging and targeting, the better chance your institution will be introduced to the right prospects.
But getting your message out there is only half the battle. All media strategies need to be backed by real-time analytics to ensure your investments are paying off. Monitoring the data and continuously optimizing your campaign based on findings is the key to an effective enrollment marketing campaign.
Build belonging for better retention
It’s not enough to get students through the door; you need to keep them throughout their academic careers. That means investing in the student experience to increase engagement and, ultimately, retention.
The best way to improve student experience is to understand what students really need. Today’s students are increasingly looking for support, whether that’s through tutoring, career services, or mental health resources. These aren’t “nice-to-haves”—they help create an environment where students feel they belong.
Getting support and funding for these resources will require stakeholder alignment, followed by training to ensure your staff can deliver on the promise to students. From there, consider how you’ll craft the strategic messaging around these services. How can you talk about these resources in your prospect and student communications? How prominently are they featured on your website? Understanding how to craft the story around your student services will better make the case for your institution as an environment where every student is supported.
Align academic offerings with the market
Institutions must walk the fine line between offering tried-and-true majors and keeping up with the realities of today’s job market. Investing in market research helps your college understand which programs are most in demand—and which may need to be updated or removed entirely.
Market research is an investment in your college’s financial sustainability. By looking at what credentials students (and employers) want, as well as what your competitors are offering, you can better allocate your resources to support high-performing programs.
Shift focus, strengthen results
No institution wants to think about budget cuts. But with the right strategy, these cuts don’t have to be a setback. Instead, they can put you on a path toward smarter growth. You just need a guide to help you find these opportunities.
In today’s uncertain market, it helps to have a partner who understands the challenges. At Paskill, we work alongside institutions to reach the right prospects and keep them engaged through smart strategy, strong messaging, and a web presence that works. Let’s talk about what that could look like for you.
