Search engines used to guide prospective students to higher ed websites for answers. Today, they increasingly deliver answers directly within search results. That shift is disrupting the way many higher ed teams measure marketing performance. The path from discovery to enrollment is harder to see.
Today, a typical prospect might:
- Ask an AI chatbot about your college or university
- Search Google using queries like “is [college] worth it” or “is it a mistake”
- Land on Reddit and read opinions from two actual students and thirty bots
- Visit your college website weeks or months later, having already formed an opinion
Recent research highlights how AI is shaping student decision-making:
37%
of students reported using AI tools such as ChatGPT or Perplexity to gather information about schools they were considering.
49%
of students said their consideration set had already been shaped by AI-generated search results before they even reached a college website.[i]
When prospects finally reach your site, they’re not looking for basic information. They’re looking to confirm or challenge what they already believe. This shift creates an opportunity to refocus your measurement on what matters most: owned journeys.
What “Owned Journeys” Actually Are
Owned journeys are the places on your website (or websites) where prospective students make decisions. They’re not enrollment marketing funnels. They’re not marketing workflows. They’re the spots within your owned digital ecosystem where prospects try to answer real questions like:
- Can I afford this?
- Is this program right for me?
- What happens if I apply?
You see them in:
- Program pages, where a student scrolls from curriculum to outcomes to related programs
- A cost and financial aid page, where they check tuition, then look for scholarships
- A transfer or adult learner pathway, where they explore whether their credits will count and who they can ask
Those owned journeys can reinforce skepticism or ease anxiety. In the worst moments, prospects leave your higher ed site slightly more convinced that:
- Your college isn’t for them.
- Reaching out would be a hassle.
- It’s safer to keep looking.
In the best moments, your website answers the question the prospect has in the moment it matters. Prospects linger on course descriptions. They explore programs they hadn’t yet considered. They feel a growing sense of belonging. They complete your “Request Info” form believing that it might just lead to a helpful human interaction and not just another email drip campaign.
Yes, these moments can be messy. And that creates a measurement challenge. Owned journeys don’t fit neatly into traditional, linear measurement models. But as AI search shifts more of the decision process out of view, they’ve become the most grounded place to understand what moves prospects down the path toward enrollment.
Here’s how to start measuring your own journeys.
You don’t need formal UX training or an advanced analytics degree. Years of answering student emails and reviewing inquiry notes have already taught you what actions matter and where friction tends to appear. Mapping these owned journeys simply gives structure to what you already know.
How to Measure the Owned Journeys That Matter Most
Step One: Choose Your Journey
Start by choosing one or two owned journeys that matter most to your enrollment outcomes. Program fit, cost and aid, and transfer pathways can be good starting points because they combine high intent with high uncertainty.
Step Two: Map the Steps
From there, map out each step. You can do this with a team and a room full of whiteboards, or at your desk with a notepad, coffee, and Spotify in the background.
For each owned journey, define:
- Entry points (where people start)
- Key steps (what they need to see/do to gain confidence)
- Next best actions (what “forward” looks like)
Expect some messiness here. You’re creating an approximation, not a perfect model of behavior. Prospects won’t follow this sequence cleanly, and that’s expected. Precision isn’t the point. You’re just defining a consistent way to observe progress, friction and drop-offs across typical user paths.
Here’s an example:
Program Fit Journey
- Program page view
- Related Program page view
- Engagement with curriculum / “what you’ll learn”
- Engagement with outcomes / career proof
- Engagement with requirements / transfer credit
- Click to request info, start application, schedule visit, or contact an advisor
Step Three: Measure the Data
Once you have your steps, you’ll need to build a directional view of how people move through the journey. This depends on the measurement tools you’re using. Some tools, like Microsoft Clarity, make it easier because they’re built around behavior. Teams can define a simple funnel, see how many people reach each step, and then watch real sessions to understand why some move forward and others don’t. (Watch a tutorial on how to build funnels in Microsoft Clarity.)
Other analytics tools might require more configuration or workarounds. You might need to coordinate with your web team, CIO or agency partners. Align your teams on the outcome, not the tool. You want directional insight into what “forward” looks like for a given journey and where confidence tends to build or break.
Bonus Step: Watch the Replays
If you have access to a behavioral analytics tool that captures session replays, use it to your advantage. These videos can surface patterns that don’t appear in traditional reports.
Perhaps a user loads a page, starts to scroll, then opens a new tab and disappears for twenty minutes. Are they fact-checking your financial aid stats? Lost in a TikTok fugue state? You can’t measure that part, and frankly it’s for the best. But seeing it is useful. It pushes measurement away from idealized metrics and toward the moments when attention returns. That reality is where better measurement begins.
Step Four: Make Smarter Moves
This enhanced visibility sets the foundation for meaningful change. Instead of guessing based on volume metrics, you’ll learn how decisions actually unfold. You’ll see how incremental changes can shift user behaviors toward deepened engagement and better enrollment outcomes.
For example:
You might notice that prospects who reach outcomes content are far more likely to take a next step, but others never find it at all. That points to a navigation or placement issue, not a messaging problem.
You might see repeated hesitation on cost pages, followed by exits. This suggests the issue isn’t price alone but missing context around aid or eligibility.
You can address these scenarios through small, targeted fixes: moving a section higher, clarifying a headline, pairing outcomes with proof. When those small fixes are informed by actual user behavior, they compound into stronger engagement and more consistent movement toward enrollment.
AI Visibility: Track It, But Don’t Confuse It with Outcomes
Does this mean you should give up on measuring your AI visibility, or optimizing for AI search? Not at all. In fact, a recent analysis of global clickstream data from SEMrush revealed meaningful opportunities specific to higher education. “With the right strategy,” the report notes, “these institutions could expand their reach through ChatGPT more than through traditional search alone.”[ii]
But visibility alone doesn’t tell you whether prospects are gaining confidence or taking next steps. AI visibility influences who shows up. Owned journeys affect what they do next.
Own Your Journeys, Own Your Enrollment Growth
This shift toward owned journeys may feel unfamiliar at first. Teams and stakeholders are used to dashboards and summary metrics. Journey-level views often raise new questions. Expect some discussion. Plan for a few “walk me through that” moments. That’s part of the adjustment. Giving people time to understand how these views connect to enrollment outcomes helps build trust in the approach.
In time, you and your team will discuss performance in more concrete ways. You’ll be able to say:
- “Here are the journeys that drive enrollment decisions.”
- “Here’s where prospects lose confidence.”
- “Here are the proof points that move them forward.”
- “Here’s what we changed on the site, and here’s the measurable lift in journey completion.”
This is measurement aligned with today’s higher ed reality. AI search shapes discovery. Your owned journeys define the outcomes. Rebuilding your measurement strategy around owned journeys helps you influence what happens next.
Get Help Along the Journey
Many higher ed teams are expected to explain results more clearly, act more decisively, and do so with fewer clean signals than they had before. If you’re navigating similar pressure, Paskill can help. Connect with us on LinkedIn, reach out for a consultation, or watch our recent webinar Enrollment-First Websites for more helpful higher ed marketing strategies.
[i] https://insights.educationdynamics.com/rs/183-YME-928/images/EDDY-Modern-Learner-Report-2025.pdf
