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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsEffective college recruitment is not a single winning channel. A 2025 survey of 114 U.S. institutions points to a mix of in-person contact, digital communication, responsive websites, advertising, and enrollment operations—with leading tactics differing by institution type. Because the findings are institutions’ assessments rather than a causal experiment, colleges should use them to shape and test a locally appropriate recruitment plan, not as a guarantee of enrollment growth.
What the 2025 survey says about effective college recruitment
Ruffalo Noel Levitz’s 2025 Marketing and Recruitment Practices for Undergraduate Students surveyed 114 U.S. institutions. It reports which practices respondents use or consider effective; its measure of “effective” combines responses of “very effective” and “somewhat effective.” The findings describe institutional experience and opinion. They do not establish that a particular tactic caused a change in applications, enrollment, or yield.
The report lists these leading undergraduate recruitment strategies by institution type:
| Institution type | Leading strategies identified in the report |
|---|---|
| Four-year private | In-person meetings, a mobile-responsive website, and text messaging |
| Four-year public | In-person meetings, personalized videos, and text messaging |
| Two-year | Digital advertising, in-person meetings, and personalized videos |
The survey’s comparisons are specific to participating U.S. institutions and undergraduate recruitment. They should not be treated as a ranking for every college, graduate program, international audience, or national system. In-person meetings appear among the leading practices across all three institution types, but the other leading tactics vary.
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Build a connected recruitment journey, not a list of channels
Recruitment includes more than advertising. The report covers personal meetings and tailored communication as well as websites, inquiry capture, digital advertising, customer relationship management (CRM), admissions tracking, and analytics. These practices serve different functions: reach prospective students, make it easy to request information, answer questions, support applications, and help staff manage follow-up.
A practical way to apply that distinction is to map the student journey before choosing channels. For each stage, identify the audience, the next useful action, the staff or system responsible for responding, and the outcome to measure. The following is a planning framework, not a claim that the survey tested a particular sequence:
- Awareness: Decide which students and geographies the institution needs to reach. Consider suitable paid and owned channels, then assess reach and cost alongside the relevance of the inquiries they generate.
- Inquiry: Make the website mobile-responsive and the request-for-information (RFI) path clear. Set a process for timely, accurate follow-up by staff or an automated tool.
- Application and admission: Provide relevant next steps and human contact where students need guidance. Track whether inquiries move to applications and whether applicants move to admission.
- Deposit and enrollment: Coordinate continued communication, student support, and appropriate family information through the transition. Measure enrollment against the institution’s stated cohort and time period.
A channel is useful only in context: a large volume of leads is not the same as qualified interest, and a message that goes out is not proof that a student received help or advanced to the next stage.
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Choose digital tactics for their role and audience
RNL’s report separates advertising, digital recruitment tools, and enrollment management rather than treating “digital marketing” as one tactic. It includes social media, retargeting, video, paid display, and television advertising in its advertising comparisons. For digital recruitment and advertising, it discusses search engine optimization (SEO), RFI forms, AI-powered chatbots, paid display, and search engine marketing (SEM). The practices rank differently by institution type; the report does not support a universal order for choosing them.
Use that range to ask what a prospective student needs at each point, rather than adding channels for their own sake. Paid advertising can introduce or remind audiences of an institution; SEO can help prospective students find relevant information; an RFI form can capture interest; and a well-maintained website can explain programs and next steps. These are functional distinctions for planning, not evidence that any one channel will outperform another at a particular institution.
Digital execution also depends on operations. The survey covers admissions tracking, engagement scoring, CRM use, SEO, AI-assisted enrollment operations, and analytics. A CRM or scoring system is only useful when staff agree on what counts as an inquiry, how interactions are recorded, who follows up, and what action a score should prompt. Before expanding a tool, check that the institution can maintain accurate data and respond to the interest it generates.
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Personalize communication while keeping access in view
RNL treats counselor outreach and family engagement as distinct parts of recruitment. Colleges can make those relationships more useful by giving high-school counselors current, clear information and by offering families process guidance at appropriate points. Family communication should support the student’s decisions rather than displace the student as the central participant.
For first-generation and other historically underrepresented students, assess the whole experience—not simply whether a campaign reached them. Review whether program and financial information is understandable, whether students can get answers, and whether recruitment practices connect to the support available after admission. The survey identifies these as areas institutions address; it does not establish a single formula that will work across campuses or communities.
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What one institution reported
SUNY Geneseo’s 2024-25 president’s report describes an out-of-state recruitment effort involving a tuition-match program, expanded prospect-pool purchases, counselor and alumni engagement, consortium activity, and scholarships. The institution reports buying 35,000 prospect-pool names in 2023 and 70,000 in 2024, with leads exceeding 100,000 in 2025. It also reports that out-of-state admits doubled compared with its 2023 out-of-state cohort, while yield remained about 3%.
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Those are SUNY Geneseo’s reported figures for its own strategy and context. The report describes several concurrent activities, so the figures do not demonstrate that buying names—or any single component—caused the change in admits. The reported yield also shows why lead and admit volume should not be read as enrollment by themselves.
The same report says first-generation students made up 22.1% of the 2024-25 cohort, compared with a 19.3% benchmark for 2021-22, and gives a 24.4% target for 2026-27. It describes community partnerships, a revised Educational Opportunity Program recruitment process, pre-orientation, first-generation scholarships, and family sessions. These are institution-reported figures and initiatives, not general benchmarks for other colleges.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Use AI with clear limits and human ownership
The RNL report includes AI-powered chatbots and AI use in enrollment operations and analysis as emerging practices. An institution considering a chatbot should decide what it is allowed to answer, what it must hand off to a person, and how students can recognize its limits. Keep answers aligned with official admissions information, review the tool’s performance, and provide a clear route to human assistance for complex or consequential questions.
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The survey does not show that AI necessarily improves recruitment outcomes, nor does it establish a universal governance standard. Treat implementation as an operational decision: define the problem the tool is meant to solve, identify who owns its content and escalation process, and assess whether it is helping students and staff in the institution’s actual setting.
Measure recruitment against institutional goals
CASE’s 2024 education marketing and communications measurement framework includes recruitment and retention among six categories. It positions measurement as a way to set goals, assess progress, and support continuous improvement—not as a single KPI that suits every institution. A useful measurement plan defines the audience and intended outcome, reports the time period and segment, and considers resource cost and student experience alongside volume.
Choose measures that correspond to the question being asked. For example, a college evaluating a new outreach effort might distinguish:
- Reach: Who was exposed to the outreach, and what did it cost to reach them?
- Interest: How many relevant inquiries were received, and how quickly were they answered?
- Progress: What share of a defined inquiry cohort applied, was admitted, deposited, or enrolled?
- Context and experience: Which groups were served, what barriers or support needs emerged, and how did the process feel to students?
These are planning questions, not figures prescribed by CASE or RNL. Define each denominator and cohort date before comparing results. Comparisons across institutions can mislead when geography, selectivity, program mix, student populations, or metric definitions differ.
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For equity and broader enrollment context, Oregon’s Higher Education Coordinating Commission publishes annual snapshots on enrollment, affordability, and outcomes, with a focus on underserved groups. Its 2026 snapshots use 2024-25 learner data. That is a state-specific example of contextual data, not a universal benchmark for colleges elsewhere.
Keep regulatory claims specific
Federal Student Aid’s 2024-25 handbook appendix summarizes institutional reporting and disclosure requirements and points to statutory and regulatory references. The appendix says it is not complete implementation guidance, and omissions do not relieve institutions of Title IV requirements. Colleges planning a specific recruitment campaign or making claims about disclosures should consult current regulations and applicable detailed guidance rather than treating a summary appendix as a compliance checklist.
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