4 Stats that Show How Universities can Increase Enrollment 

Reaching students has never been more challenging. In US postsecondary education, spring enrollment decreased by 7.4% from 2020 to 2022.

With student enrollment down, competition for student attention and engagement is heating up. To beat the competition, colleges and universities need to put students first. This means catering to student behaviors and providing a customer experience matching the one they get from their favourite B2C brands.

To understand how universities and colleges can increase enrollment this fall, we’ve drawn from our Higher Education Cheat Sheet – 4 Proven Strategies to Increase Enrollment. For the full low-down and success stories from fellow schools, download the cheat sheet below. 

Higher Ed Cheat Sheet - 4 Proven Strategies to Increase Enrollment

Discover 4 cost-effective strategies that any higher education institution can adopt to help them engage with more prospective students & boost enrollment.

Find out more

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1. 72% of Gen Z expect to interact with someone immediately when they reach out for support 

Growing up surrounded by tech, today’s students expect immediate support, and not just from their favorite B2C brands – but from their universities or colleges too. Live chat is the perfect communication channel to respond to this need as it allows teams of any size to deliver instant, real-time support.  

Live chat also mirrors the digital channels that students use to stay connected with friends and family, and avoids the anxiety caused by phone calls among Gen Z and Millennials. See how Cambrian College increased enrollment by adopting Comm100 Live Chat here. 

2. 70% of consumers currently use or are interested in using chatbots for simple customer service 

With consumers favoring chatbots for simple customer service, it’s a great opportunity for universities to introduce chatbots for 24/7 support. When support teams are offline, chatbots allow schools to provide round-the-clock support to students so they never miss an opportunity to engage. They also help to better support international students in other time zones instead of forcing them to wait hours or even days for a response via email.  

Using Natural Language Processing (NLP), AI chatbots can handle over 80% of chats without any human interaction.   

3. 77% of Gen Z expect consistent interactions across departments 

With most of Gen Z looking for consistency in interactions across departments, universities should look to omnichannel support platforms. With every digital channel connected to a single omnichannel student engagement platform, students can connect on any channel and trust that their school will provide a consistent experience every time. This improves CX while driving operational efficiency as support staff have all the information they need at their fingertips. 

4. 60% of Gen Z & Millennials use private social media messaging for customer support 

With the majority of Gen Z and Millennials already looking to social media for support, higher education should adopt social platforms as a key channel to engage with prospective students. While many universities already use social media for marketing, if support isn’t offered it’s a missed opportunity. 

With an omnichannel engagement platform, it’s easy to support students across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, WeChat, WhatsApp, and whatever comes next – all without missing a conversation. With a single agent console keeping everything in one place, there’s no need to create separate teams supporting each channel. 

Wrap Up 

While all these stats show that colleges and universities need to work harder now to engage students, they also show the many opportunities to do so. For more stats like these and a deeper dive into how higher education can increase enrollment this fall, download our Higher Education Cheat Sheet here: 

Higher Ed Cheat Sheet - 4 Proven Strategies to Increase Enrollment

Discover 4 cost-effective strategies that any higher education institution can adopt to help them engage with more prospective students & boost enrollment.

Find out more

SlideShare