Enrollment teams don’t need another warning that student melt is rising—they’re managing it every day.
Recent research from Encoura highlights a growing challenge for colleges and universities: students are committing earlier, but staying engaged for longer periods before enrollment. That extended window creates new risk, especially when students begin to question affordability, fit, and outcomes after they’ve already deposited.
The question facing enrollment leaders isn’t whether melt happens.
It’s how institutions stay meaningfully connected during the months that matter most.
Melt Isn’t About Volume—It’s About Reassurance
Encoura’s analysis reinforces what enrollment teams already know intuitively: students who melt aren’t disengaging because they stopped receiving information. They’re disengaging because uncertainty creeps in.
After deposit, students and families are still asking:
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What will my day-to-day experience actually look like?
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Will I feel comfortable and supported on campus?
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How do academics, housing, and campus life come together?
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Can I picture myself here beyond move-in day?
Traditional post-deposit communications—emails, checklists, portals—are necessary, but they often struggle to answer those questions in a way that feels tangible and human.
That’s where video plays a critical role.
Why Video Matters After the Campus Visit
Campus visits remain one of the most powerful moments in the enrollment journey. The challenge is that the visit doesn’t last, while the decision-making does.
Strategic use of video helps institutions extend the value of the visit experience well beyond the day students step on campus.
For enrollment teams, video can:
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Reinforce what students saw and felt during their visit
Guided video content that highlights campus spaces, academic environments, and student life helps students reconnect emotionally with the experience that led them to commit.
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Support students who couldn’t visit—or couldn’t visit again
Not every student has the ability to return to campus post-deposit. Video offers a consistent, accessible way to experience the institution during critical decision periods.
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Provide clarity during moments of uncertainty
Orientation timelines, housing selection, academic expectations, and campus support services become easier to understand when students can see how things work, not just read about them.
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Create continuity across enrollment and student success teams
Video helps align admissions, orientation, and student affairs around a shared story—reducing confusion and reinforcing confidence.
Aligning Video with What Drives Student Decisions
Encoura’s research emphasizes that melt prevention works best when outreach reflects why students chose an institution in the first place.
Video supports that alignment at scale.
Instead of generic follow-up messaging, enrollment teams can use video to:
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Highlight academic environments and teaching styles
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Showcase campus culture and student involvement
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Reinforce access to resources that support student success
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Help students visualize themselves navigating campus life
The goal isn’t to overwhelm students with more content—it’s to anchor their decision in familiarity.
When students recognize what they saw, felt, and valued during their visit, confidence tends to follow.
From Yield to Melt: Keeping the Experience Connected
Yield and melt are closely linked. The same experiences that influence a student’s decision to deposit also shape whether they ultimately enroll.
Video allows institutions to maintain that connection by keeping the campus experience visible, consistent, and easy to revisit—especially during the summer months when engagement naturally dips.
By reinforcing belonging, clarity, and continuity, enrollment teams can reduce melt not by adding more messages, but by delivering the right experiences in the right moments.
Read the Research Behind This Conversation
This post was inspired by Encoura’s article, “Keep It Cool: Addressing Student Melt,” which explores recent trends in student melt and the decision factors influencing enrollment outcomes.
