Institutional Growth
💡 TL;DR: The cost of manual enrollment at a small college is rarely a budget line — it’s a retention leak. Coached Pell-eligible students at the University of Utah retain 21.4 percentage points higher than uncoached peers. Austin Community College pushed graduation rates from 7% to 23% with
Institutional Growth
💡 TL;DR: Vocational-focused public two-year colleges have grown enrollment 20% since spring 2020, while four-year universities have stayed flat or declined. The reason isn’t mysterious — it’s price, speed-to-career, and the fact that Gen Z is choosing programs with clear labor-market outcomes. Any
Institutional Growth
What the Anthology Bankruptcy Means for Your Student Information System Your SIS vendor just filed for bankruptcy. Now what? If your institution runs on Anthology’s PowerCampus — or any of its suite products — September 29, 2025 was a date that changed your technology roadmap whether you were ready for it
Institutional Growth
SRM vs. CRM: What Small Colleges Actually Need for Enrollment Management The higher education CRM market is projected to hit $3.2 billion by 2025 and grow at a 16.2% annual rate through 2035 — and a meaningful slice of that spending is going to the wrong category of tool
Institutional Growth
Key demographic and economic drivers Fewer high school graduates, a growing skepticism about the return on investment for four-year degrees, and lingering pandemic aftershocks are converging to fuel the cliff. Gen Z is especially attuned to practical, skills-based education that leads directly to stable careers. In a climate
Institutional Growth
This summer, the president of Ferrum College spent Saturdays knocking on doors in Roanoke, Virginia, leaving pamphlets and hoping to recruit students. She visited 35 homes in one afternoon—not guerrilla marketing, but desperation following the FAFSA debacle.  When your institution’s leadership is literally door-knocking to fill seats,
Institutional Growth
At least 15 nonprofit colleges closed in 2025 due to enrollment and financial challenges. The “enrollment cliff”—a projected 15% decline in college-age students through 2029—is hitting small institutions hardest.  For colleges with 50-500 employees, the math is brutal. Small institutions are 47% more likely to face
Institutional Growth
The demographic cliff has arrived. Small colleges across America are watching enrollment numbers with growing anxiety as the pool of traditional college-age students shrinks by an estimated 15% through 2029. Meanwhile, Gen Z students—the most digitally fluent generation in history—are bringing expectations that would make even well-
Institutional Growth
The higher education CRM market is projected to grow from $3.26 billion in 2025 to $13.83 billion by 2035—a 15.56% annual growth rate driven by one undeniable reality: institutions that can’t manage student relationships effectively won’t survive the enrollment cliff. But here’s what
Institutional Growth
The rules are changing mid-game. In April 2025, President Trump signed an executive order instructing the Department of Education to reform higher education accreditation—streamlining processes, encouraging competition among accreditors, and investigating agencies that impose what the administration characterizes as ideologically-driven requirements. The Department responded by lifting restrictions
Institutional Growth
Trade schools face an unusual problem: too much demand. While traditional universities struggle with declining enrollment and demographic cliffs, vocational institutions are experiencing unprecedented growth. Fall enrollment at trade schools is projected to grow 6.6% annually through 2030, according to a March 2025 report from Validated Insights—dwarfing the
Institutional Growth
The numbers tell a story that traditional higher education doesn’t want to hear. While four-year universities continue their post-pandemic enrollment struggles, vocational-focused community colleges have grown 19.4% since spring 2020, adding nearly 150,000 students. These institutions now represent almost 20% of all community college