The newest Enrollment Engagement Report reveals something many enrollment leaders have sensed for years:
Students haven’t disengaged from the college search. They’ve just changed how they engage.
Instead of raising their hands early, students now research quietly, evaluate deeply, and build confidence long before they ever submit an inquiry or application.
This shift—often described as the “dark funnel”—is reshaping how institutions must think about storytelling, digital content, and the role of video in the enrollment journey.
For institutions looking to stay competitive, the message is clear:
your digital experience now carries far more weight than your CRM workflows.
One of the most striking findings in the report:
53% of students applied or requested information without ever directly interacting with a college first.
That means the majority of the decision process is happening before admissions teams even know a student exists.
Students are:
These behaviors form what the report calls the dark funnel—the invisible research phase where preferences are built and shortlists are quietly formed.
By the time a student fills out a form, they may already know:
In other words, the form isn’t the start of the journey anymore.
It’s the end of the research phase.
The modern digital experience has trained students to expect personalization immediately.
According to the study:
This creates a challenge for enrollment teams.
Most systems personalize communication after inquiry.
Students expect personalization during exploration.
That gap is where many institutions lose prospective students without ever realizing it.
While many channels influence awareness, the report highlights a key insight about how content builds confidence.
Students consistently return to a few trusted sources:
Among digital formats, video plays a powerful supporting role.
Video works best when it:
In other words:
Video is most effective when it brings people into the experience.
Not just information.
Not just marketing.
But real voices and real stories.
Another major insight from the report highlights the growing role of AI in the college search.
Nearly half of students (47%) already use AI tools such as ChatGPT or Gemini during their research.
But there’s a catch.
Students are comfortable using AI themselves.
They are far less comfortable when colleges use it as the face of communication.
The study found:
The takeaway is not that institutions should avoid AI.
It’s that AI should support the experience, not replace it.
Students want efficiency in research.
They want authenticity in relationships.
Across every stage of the enrollment journey—from awareness to decision—the same pattern emerges.
Students build confidence through:
The channels that carry the most influence include:
Video supports these channels by helping students see themselves in the experience—especially when it highlights real students, campus life, and authentic moments.
The message is simple:
Students don’t choose colleges based on the flashiest content.
They choose based on whether they feel:
This shift in student behavior doesn’t mean institutions need entirely new channels.
It means rethinking how existing channels work together.
The institutions winning enrollment today are doing three things differently:
Content and digital experiences carry the weight of first impressions.
That means program pages, videos, and student stories must answer the question:
“Can I see myself here?”
before a counselor ever enters the conversation.
Students often interact with institutional content six or more times before taking action.
Every interaction should reinforce the same narrative:
Consistency builds trust.
AI and behavioral intelligence can help institutions:
But the experience still needs to feel human.
Students don’t want colleges to automate relationships.
They want colleges to notice them.
The college search hasn’t disappeared.
It has simply moved into a phase most institutions weren’t built to see.
Students are exploring earlier.
They are researching independently.
They are forming opinions long before they reach out.
That means the most important enrollment moments now happen inside the digital experience.
The institutions that succeed will be the ones that:
Because in today’s enrollment landscape:
attention starts with content.
But confidence comes from connection.
Students now research colleges independently using digital tools, allowing them to explore options without directly interacting with admissions teams.
Highly personalized outreach significantly increases engagement and conversion, while generic messaging can reduce student interest.
Video helps scale human connection by allowing students to see real people, experiences, and campus life before engaging directly with a college.
Students use AI tools for research and comparison, but still prefer human interaction for decisions related to fit, financial aid, and enrollment.