Higher Ed Has Lost the Benefit of the Doubt. Now What?

Higher Ed Has Lost the Benefit of the Doubt: What Jason Simon Says Institutions Must Do Nex

Guests:

Jonathan Clues (Host)
Jason Simon

Overview: What This Conversation Covers

This transcript captures a conversation between Jonathan Clues and Jason Simon about:

• Why higher education is increasingly competing for belief, not just attention
• How the sector lost the “benefit of the doubt” with students and families
• Why trust, alignment, and positioning are now central to enrollment strategy
• The danger of generic storytelling in a skeptical and competitive market
• How institutional experience and brand promise need to match
• Why yield can reveal important truths about brand health
• What higher ed leaders can do now to rebuild trust and sharpen their value proposition

Background: Jason Simon’s Perspective on Higher Ed Branding

Jonathan Clues:
Welcome to today’s episode of the Filling Seats podcast, StudentBridge’s original content series where we talk with people across the industry about topics we hope you find useful and thought-provoking.

Today’s guest is Jason Simon, CEO of SimpsonScarborough. Jason has spent decades in higher education marketing and branding, and he has been writing and speaking recently about the deeper challenges facing the sector.

Jason, thanks for joining us.

Jason Simon:
Great to be here. Thanks for having me.

Jonathan Clues:
Today we’re talking about the trust gap in higher education. This feels like a conversation that is bigger than campaigns, channels, or creative execution. Right now, higher ed is not just competing for attention. It’s competing for belief.

Does that framing resonate with you?

Jason Simon:
Absolutely. Whether we call it a trust gap or an alignment gap, this is a conversation we are having every day with institutions.

How Higher Ed Lost the Benefit of the Doubt

Jonathan Clues:
You’ve spent years in this space. What do you think has changed?

Jason Simon:
For a long time, higher education operated with a built-in assumption of value. Families were more likely to believe college was worth it, even if they did not examine every detail too closely.

That has changed.

Today, students and families are more skeptical. They are asking harder questions. They are evaluating risk, cost, return, and fit more directly. Higher ed has, in many ways, lost the benefit of the doubt.

That means institutions have to work much harder to communicate value clearly and credibly.

Why This Is Bigger Than a Marketing Problem

Jonathan Clues:
That’s an important distinction. This is not just about fixing messaging.

Jason Simon:
Exactly. Some of these issues get handed to marketing or enrollment teams as if they are communications problems, but many of them are upstream of that.

If an institution is unclear about who it serves, what it stands for, or how its pricing and outcomes connect, no amount of better copy is going to solve that.

These are institutional questions. Leadership has to own them.

The Role of Public Trust in Today’s Enrollment Climate

Jonathan Clues:
How much of this comes down to the broader environment around higher ed?

Jason Simon:
A lot of it. The public conversation around higher education has shifted. College is increasingly viewed through a more transactional lens. People are asking whether the cost is worth it, whether the experience is aligned with the outcome, and whether institutions are keeping up with how students actually want to learn and live.

That does not mean higher ed has lost its value. But it does mean institutions can no longer assume that value is obvious to everyone.

They have to earn trust more intentionally.

Why Generic Storytelling Is Becoming Riskier

Jonathan Clues:
When people say, “We just need to tell our story better,” what goes through your mind?

Jason Simon:
That phrase is often a signal that the real issue has not been fully diagnosed.

Sometimes the problem is not that the story is not being told well enough. It is that the institution has not yet made the harder choices required to make the story clear and believable.

Generic storytelling is increasingly risky because families are more discerning. If the message sounds like what every other school says, it will not land. And in a lower-trust environment, sameness can make institutions sound evasive instead of compelling.

Why Positioning Matters More Than Ever

Jonathan Clues:
So if generic language is part of the problem, what needs to replace it?

Jason Simon:
Stronger positioning.

Institutions need to be able to answer a few simple but difficult questions:

• Why you?
• Why now?
• For whom?

If they cannot answer those clearly and succinctly, it becomes very difficult to cut through the noise.

And that is not just a marketing task. That goes back to the core positioning of the institution itself.

Why Yield Can Reveal More Than Leaders Realize

Jonathan Clues:
One idea that stood out in your writing is the way yield can reflect deeper institutional truths. Can you talk about that?

Jason Simon:
Yield is often treated as just an enrollment metric, but it can also be a signal of whether the institution’s story, value, and experience are actually aligning.

If students are applying but not choosing to enroll, that can point to a disconnect. It may reflect how the institution is being perceived, whether the value proposition feels believable, or whether families are seeing a mismatch between what is promised and what they expect to get.

That is why brand and enrollment are not separate conversations.

Why Institutions Need Better Alignment Across the Experience

Jonathan Clues:
It seems like that gets us into alignment very quickly.

Jason Simon:
Yes. If the story an institution tells in marketing does not line up with what students encounter in admissions, on campus, or in the academic experience, trust breaks.

Students and families notice inconsistency quickly. They are looking for confirmation that the institution is what it claims to be.

So brand work cannot live in isolation. It has to connect with experience.

What Leaders Should Be Asking Right Now

Jonathan Clues:
For leaders listening to this, what are the right questions to be asking?

Jason Simon:
I would start here:

• Are we making our value proposition clear?
• Are price and outcomes aligned in a way that feels credible?
• Are our offerings designed around how today’s learners actually want to learn?
• Are we optimizing only for the next class, or are we building for the long term?

Too often, institutions are trying to solve short-term enrollment pressure and long-term positioning challenges with the same level of effort and the same mindset. That is very hard to do.

Why This Work Requires Institutional Courage

Jonathan Clues:
That sounds like a call for leadership courage as much as anything else.

Jason Simon:
It is.

The most effective CMOs and enrollment leaders understand that some of the biggest challenges they face are not really “marketing problems.” They know they have to force larger institutional conversations if they want to succeed.

Otherwise, they are being asked to market their way out of issues that were never truly theirs to own alone.

Practical Steps Institutions Can Take Now

Jonathan Clues:
What about practical action? If an institution wants to do something now, where should it start?

Jason Simon:
Start with the basics, but do them well.

Pick the top few academic programs that matter most. Make sure those landing pages are truly compelling and authentic. Be more intentional about storytelling. Think about voice, timing, tone, and what students need to hear at different points in the journey.

This is not just about saying the right thing. It is about saying it in the right way, at the right time, in the right context.

Students move through a long decision process. Different moments require different messages. If institutions are still pushing the same story regardless of where a student is in the funnel, they are going to miss the mark.

Why “Best Kept Secret” Is the Wrong Goal

Jonathan Clues:
One phrase that always makes me cringe is when a college says, “We’re the best kept secret.”

Jason Simon:
I completely agree.

No organization should want to be the best kept secret. That framing is usually a sign that the institution has not fully confronted the real issue.

The better questions are:

• Are we making our value proposition clear?
• Are we meaningfully different?
• Are we showing why we are worth the investment?
• Are we aligned around the kind of student we are best positioned to serve?

Those are much more useful conversations.

Reasons for Optimism in Higher Education

Jonathan Clues:
Let’s end on a more optimistic note. What gives you hope that higher ed can rebuild trust and tell a stronger story moving forward?

Jason Simon:
What gives me optimism is that there are still so many people in this space who care deeply about what higher education can do for students and families.

That matters.

I also think some institutions are already showing that improvement is possible. We’ve seen schools reverse multi-year enrollment declines when they invest in the fundamentals, clarify their story, and make better decisions around positioning and communication.

This is a difficult market. It is a contraction market. But that does not mean every institution has to lose.

There is still real opportunity for schools willing to do the hard work, make sharper choices, and rebuild trust through clarity and alignment.

Podcast Closing

Jonathan Clues:
Jason, thank you for joining me and for pushing this conversation forward. This is an important one for higher ed leaders, marketers, and enrollment teams alike.

And thanks to everyone listening. Be sure to look up Jason Simon on LinkedIn and check out SimpsonScarborough’s work as well.

For more episodes and resources, visit StudentBridge.com.

We’ll see you next time on Filling Seats.