2026 AGENDA

When many institutions narrowed their media strategies when complications arose with navigating TikTok, one institution chose to strategically expand its digital footprint. By adding three new digital strategies — while maintaining a measured but intentional TikTok presence — Loyola University Chicago doubled down on a diversified, full-funnel approach. Rather than chasing short-term application spikes, the team invested across the enrollment journey: top-of-funnel branding, video storytelling, and family engagement. This digital strategy resulted in strong enrollment performance amid a competitive environment.  This session will explore why a balanced media portfolio outperforms reactive, single-channel strategies, and how institutions can make investments across awareness, engagement, inquiry, application, and yield stages to drive sustainable results. Attendees will leave with a practical framework for evaluating their own media mix and creating a digital strategy that strengthens their full funnel.

Your email marketing reports are probably wrong. This session unpacks why higher education email performance can't be measured like corporate campaigns, and why much of the existing email marketing research falls short when applied to higher ed audiences. We'll explore how send-list composition, domain behavior, and automated bot activity, especially within K-12 environments, can dramatically inflate open and click rates. Attendees will learn practical methods for parsing data, isolating real human engagement, and reframing success around long-term branding impact and ROI, rather than misleading vanity metrics.

Loyola University Chicago's division of Student Success launched an inaugural Student Success Summit in August 2025 driven by our motto to be good company on students' journeys to, through and beyond Loyola. The Summit allowed staff across campus to highlight initiatives and best practices while finding alignment in retention focused efforts. With participants spanning Admissions, Alumni Relations, Career Services, Financial Aid, Information Technology, Student Accessibility Center, Student Development, and beyond, the Summit fostered conversations around making retention and student success a campus wide effort.  This session will share ideas on how you could implement something similar on your campus.

In an increasingly competitive enrollment landscape, institutions must be intentional about which academic programs they promote and how those programs are positioned to prospective students. Delaware State University uses program prioritization and market-informed analysis to identify academic programs most likely to drive enrollment growth and student demand. This session will walk participants through Delaware State's process of aligning academic priorities with enrollment goals, using labor market data, student demand indicators, and competitive insights to inform decision-making. Attendees will also learn how Delaware State translated those insights into action by revising program webpages and digital messaging to better engage prospective students, clarify value, and support recruitment efforts.

Financial aid is one of the most confusing parts of the college search, not because families lack interest, but because the system keeps changing. FAFSA updates, shifting eligibility rules, and evolving loan options leave many students unsure of what college will truly cost. This session showcases how colleges are using video to explain financial aid offers and reviews practical strategies institutions can use on their websites to provide clearer guidance earlier in the process. We will also examine how real-time and data-driven personalized videos can help students understand their individual financial picture and make more confident enrollment decisions.

This presentation shares our experiences in launching 90-credit bachelor's degrees, from early conceptualization through enrollment, highlighting the obstacles we encountered and how we overcame them. We reflect on internal work to justify the financial model, secure funding, and move proposals to build alignment with university governance. We also discuss lessons learned navigating external requirements, including state authorization and regional accreditation, including the hurdles that stalled momentum and the tactics that helped unblock decisions. Finally, we describe how we translated approvals into market readiness through brand/program positioning and enrollment marketing, from detailed comm flows to social media to TV news!

Transforming a foundational partnership requires more than just a policy update; it requires a bold new strategic vision. Join the University of Florida as we share our journey of implementing a university-wide RSO Classification policy. By shifting the relationship dynamics with student groups, UF improved risk management and resource allocation while safeguarding student autonomy.

We’ll break down the policy design process — including how we engaged campus partners — and tackle the challenges of large-scale implementation. Participants will leave with a roadmap for redefining their own organizational relationships to foster community and clearer expectations. It’s time for a fresh start!

College planning is as emotional as it is informational. The 2026 RNL College Planning Study reveals that for many students, particularly first-generation and underrepresented learners, emotional readiness often determines whether they transition from exploration to action. Students describe hope and motivation alongside anxiety, confusion, and doubt. This session brings participants inside that emotional journey, where excitement about freedom and belonging meets fears about cost, fit, and failure. Drawing on nearly 2,000 student voices nationwide, we'll unpack how stress, confidence, and support systems shape planning behaviors across grade levels and highlight what colleges can do to meet students where they are.

Leaders play a critical role in guiding both staff and institutions through transition. The appointment of new leaders on campus often coincides with a period of significant institutional change, including shifts in culture, organizational structure, and staffing. Effectively managing these transitions is crucial for institutional success. Hear how these enrollment leaders successfully navigated transitions AND realized enrollment success in that cycle, and take away tips and strategies you can use with your own teams and on your own campus. Attendees will gain a deeper understanding of how to lead cultural transformation, support staff through change, and foster a shared vision for the future of their institutions.

Recruitment for Rookies is a practical, foundational session designed specifically for early-career admissions counselors and staff who are new to recruiting undergraduate and graduate students.

This session will demystify the undergraduate and graduate recruitment process, from prospect generation through enrollment, and provide participants with a clear understanding of how daily recruitment activities connect to broader enrollment goals. The presentation will focus on building confidence, consistency, and competence in new recruiters.

Participants will walk away with a stronger grasp of the enrollment funnel, effective communication strategies for today's students and families, and practical tips they can apply immediately in their roles — whether on the road, at events, or through digital outreach.

Although access to higher education is greater than decades ago, some student populations remain underrepresented and often face barriers that prevent them from succeeding. These dynamics contribute to lower retention rates. This session will explore institutional strategies that support improving retention rates by implementing programs such as Honors Colleges, Call Me Mister, Service-Learning, Academic Support Services, Open Space Mental Health, Data Tracking, and others. The session will provide an avenue for open dialogue and discussion to share best practices.

Effective digital lead generation isn't just about more data or more creative. It's about smarter alignment of both. This session pairs Encoura research with creative strategy to show how institutions can generate higher-quality leads with greater efficiency. We'll examine what data reveal about student behavior, channel performance, and messaging effectiveness, and how those insights translate into creative that resonates with traditional students, working adults, and non-traditional graduate prospects. Attendees will see real-world examples of how institutions can improve conversion, reduce wasted spend, and build digital campaigns that perform across the platforms students actually use.

Higher education professionals are currently dealing with the most turbulent environment in decades. Fueled by the global pandemic, ongoing demographic shifts, rapid technological change, and increased scrutiny of the postsecondary enterprise by both government and the larger public, the pressure is on to attract, retain, and graduate students in greater numbers than ever before. This session will explore the major environmental trends that are challenging enrollment managers and suggest some potential solutions to these issues.

Research highlights the importance of pre-transfer advising; however, many institutions do not have the support or funding for standalone pre-transfer advising services. Our transfer admissions staff saw a need to provide earlier access to advising for students interested in transferring to our School of Business to help them understand the complexities involved. This session will cover the process that was developed to address this need with earlier access to advising, including insights from the transfer advisor who coordinated with our staff. And finally, takeaways from our first two years of the program will be shared.

This session introduces a practical, repeatable Graduate and Online Enrollment Growth Engine that helps institutions move from reactive decision-making to coordinated, data-informed action. Participants will learn how to align recruitment, pricing, messaging, and retention across teams, and leave with tools they can implement in 30-90 days, regardless of institutional size or budget.

Implementing a financial aid leveraging strategy is rarely a technical challenge — it is a leadership and alignment challenge. This session explores how Benedict College successfully navigated campus politics, competing priorities, and stakeholder skepticism to implement a data-informed financial aid strategy that strengthened enrollment outcomes while protecting net tuition revenue. Through a real-world case study, participants will examine how executive alignment, cross-functional communication, and trust-building across enrollment, finance, and academic leadership were critical to success. Attendees will leave with practical frameworks for managing internal dynamics, building buy-in, and advancing financially sustainable enrollment strategies in complex institutional environments — particularly within mission-driven and resource-constrained campuses.

Join us for an interactive session exploring creative ways to extend the capabilities of the Engage system beyond its traditional uses. From streamlining policy implementation and execution, organizational resource checkout and tracking office hours, to simplifying event analytics, this discussion will showcase innovative applications of Engage. Bring your ideas, share your experiences, and gain inspiration from fellow Engage users to unlock the full potential of the platform.

Since 2021, Nunez Community College has seen a dramatic increase in continuing student retention, with a remarkable 79% growth from Fall 2024 to 2025. In this presentation, we will share what mechanisms were used to achieve this growth.

Families are no longer passive observers in the admissions process. Today's prospective parents expect instant access to information, personalized communication, and clarity about how to support their student. In this session, Berry College and CampusESP share how a strategic approach to prospective parent engagement helped Berry meet evolving family expectations while driving enrollment growth. Attendees will explore generational shifts shaping family behavior, the role of tailored and timely communication across the funnel, and Berry's results, including the fact that yield among engaged families is almost double the overall institutional yield. Walk away with practical strategies you can apply immediately.

Black high school students are navigating college financing with heightened skepticism, confusion, and emotional strain, shaped by widening affordability gaps and mistrust in financial aid systems. Drawing on insights from the 2026 Perceptions of College Financing Study, this session explores how Black students perceive college costs, seek financial aid, complete the FAFSA, and evaluate the value of a degree. We'll explore the role of parents, trusted sources, and communication tone in building (or eroding) financial confidence. Attendees will gain actionable strategies to enhance transparency, foster stronger family engagement, and develop messaging that resonates authentically with Black students and their support networks.

Personalized video is emerging as one of the most powerful tools in higher education, offering up to a 5x increase in enrollment likelihood. With a 90 percent retention rate, video delivers the right message at the right moment, helping prospects feel seen, heard, and genuinely welcomed. Data-driven personalized videos can be deployed anywhere in the enrollment funnel to reduce friction, spark belonging, and shift the focus from your institution to the student's aspirations. By showcasing programs, opportunities, and next steps through embedded calls to action, these videos inspire students to imagine themselves on your campus and confidently move forward.

Traditional list building for freshman recruitment is complex and time-consuming. While Encoura offers consultant support, institutions sometimes need immediate assistance. Classmate AI is an agentic AI assistant that interprets user intent through chat to generate and refine Class Planner filters instantly. Beyond standard search building, it explains filters, retrieves past search data and insights, and suggests strategic improvements for optimized targeting. By bridging user intent and actionable data, Classmate AI reduces list-building effort and accelerates time to action, empowering enrollment professionals to focus on high-value outreach strategies.

Colleges and universities are under growing pressure to expand, prune, and redesign their academic portfolios — often with limited time, uneven data, and strong internal opinions. Too many program decisions still rely on anecdote, legacy momentum, or surface-level market demand signals. 

This session introduces a practical, data-driven framework for evaluating portfolio health and identifying high-leverage growth opportunities. Moving beyond simple enrollment trends, we explore metrics such as demand-to-supply pressure, competitive saturation and differentiation, AI exposure, and portfolio synergy. Participants will see how these measures can be combined into a coherent scoring model that clarifies which programs to grow, redesign, sunset, or launch. 

New and veteran student success professionals alike will benefit from this overview (or refresher) of the key definitions, latest research, and effective practices that form the foundation of our work. We will share student satisfaction and motivation survey results, findings from our effective practices poll, the six building blocks for your student success plan and suggestions for working with your colleagues in enrollment management to recruit students who will stay and graduate. You’ll go back to your campus with a set of strategies and next steps to share.

As many small private colleges face enrollment decline, Paul Smith's College has charted a different course. In less than two years, the institution rebuilt its enrollment operation, restored campus trust, and increased new student enrollment by 30 percent while staying true to its mission and place. This session explores the art and science behind that turnaround, blending enrollment discipline, financial aid strategy, predictive data, and student search with authentic rebranding and storytelling. Presenters share how leadership, trust, and aligned execution fueled sustainable recovery and renewed belief across campus and community.

The higher education landscape continues to change at a rapid pace, and the competition for students is fierce. Strategic Enrollment Planning (SEP) provides a disciplined approach to monitor the environment and to develop institution-specific strategic responses. Learn the absolute must dos for an effective SEP project, how to distinguish strategic initiatives from annual planning efforts, the steps to take for an effective SEP, and common pitfalls to avoid. 

We'll explore these questions and those from participants in this interactive session.