The Scroll
Image this: A highschool sophomore is scrolling Instagram at midnight and stumbles on a school reel that feels… actual. Perhaps it’s a marching band. Perhaps it’s college students chatting on the quad. Perhaps it’s a 10-second video about dwelling within the dorms. No matter it’s, one thing sparks.
However right here is the twist: what college students do subsequent will not be at all times what faculties suppose they do.
Take Anna, a tenth grader in Minnesota:
“I adopted my dream faculty on Instagram for a 12 months earlier than I crammed out a kind. I needed to see if it was actually for me.”
Intentional. Curious. Not rushed.
Almost 90% of teenagers use social media, with Instagram and TikTok particularly common amongst highschool college students as they form their opinions about faculties (Pew Research Center, 2024; Statista, 2023). College students now use social platforms as a low-pressure technique to assess match earlier than filling out a kind (Šola & Zia, 2021). For first-generation and underrepresented college students, social media usually serves as a vital window into campus life, providing tales and information they may not discover elsewhere (Wohn et al., 2013).
Right here is the place the institutional aspect is available in. The 2025 Marketing and Recruitment Practices Report (RNL, 2025) reveals that whereas faculties rank social media adverts as one in every of their simplest ways, they nonetheless put most of their {dollars} into Fb and Instagram. The 2025 E-Expectations Report (RNL et al., 2025) reveals that college students spend a lot of their time, however campuses underuse these channels (RNL, 2025). That platform hole is an enormous motive college students scroll with out at all times discovering genuine, peer-driven content material that sparks motion.
The 2024 College Planning Report (RNL & Halda, 2024) provides one other layer: many college students describe the early levels of faculty exploration as “complicated” and “overwhelming,” particularly when they don’t see affordability clearly defined. Social turns into a protected area to observe, wait, and observe earlier than risking that first outreach.
digital-dominance-the-top-outreach-methods”>digital dominance: The highest outreach strategies
Based on the 2025 E-Expectations Report, practically 90% of first faculty contact occurs digitally.
College students most frequently make that first transfer by:
- Filling out a kind on the school web site (31%)
- Sending an electronic mail (28%)
- Following the varsity on social media (27%)
That final one? Not simply informal scrolling. One in three ninth graders is already following faculties on-line, lengthy earlier than they’re prepared to use (RNL et al., 2025).
College students are additionally extra doubtless than ever to make use of digital inquiry kinds and direct electronic mail, confirming {that a} digital-first mindset is now the norm (JohnXLibris, 2024; Pew Analysis Heart, 2024).
On the school aspect, the RNL Advertising Practices information reinforces the digital-first story: electronic mail and SMS are the simplest outreach strategies (RNL, 2025). That’s one place of alignment. However right here is the catch: faculties usually lead their early campaigns with model id, amenities, or rankings. College students, in the meantime, are on the lookout for one thing extra sensible: applications, scholarships, and campus life glimpses. It’s not nearly being digital. It’s about being related.
The 2024 School Planning Report reveals why: when requested about their high issues within the course of, college students level first to affordability (42%) and discovering the proper educational match (31%) (RNL & Halda, 2024). If early outreach misses these notes, college students scroll previous.
What sparks a scholar to achieve out?
The highest motivations for contacting a school are (RNL et al., 2025):
- Details about a selected main or program
- Particulars on find out how to apply
- Monetary support questions
- Speaking to an admissions counselor
Amongst first-generation college students, monetary support is much more central; they’re extra prone to provoke contact particularly about affordability (Affordable Colleges Online, 2024).
Limitations like complicated kinds and complicated language make it tougher for first-generation and low-income college students to confidently attain out (Inside Greater Ed, 2024). That’s the reason clear, clear messaging issues from day one.
The School Planning Report reinforces this discovering: college students constantly title monetary support and price as their most vital obstacles, with 55% saying affordability worries could restrict their choices (RNL & Halda, 2024). The 2025 Advertising Practices Report makes the distinction clear: Faculties make investments closely in model storytelling and polished digital adverts. College students, nonetheless, are motivated to behave after they see clear pathways, majors, utility steps, and affordability particulars (RNL, 2025).
Learn the E-Expectations Report
How are you going to improve engagement with potential college students? How one can you higher align your recruitment methods with their expectations. Discover all this and extra within the E-Expectations survey of college-bound highschool college students, with findings on:
- What they anticipate from faculty web sites
- Which communication channels they like
- How they use AI within the search course of
- How they worth video when studying about campuses
From social scroll to critical inquiry
Social media is a number one gateway for faculty exploration amongst youthful college students, significantly these in ninth and tenth grades (RNL et al., 2025). At this early stage, college students aren’t essentially able to fill out inquiry kinds or attend data classes; they’re observing. Following faculties on Instagram, watching TikTok movies, or seeing a YouTube dorm tour provides them low-pressure perception into scholar life, tradition, and match (Šola & Zia, 2021).
Over half of highschool college students report utilizing social media to discover faculties (Statista, 2023). Instagram and TikTok are actually extra common amongst teenagers than Fb or X/Twitter (Pew Analysis Heart, 2024).
Nevertheless, right here is the rub: the Advertising Practices Report reveals that establishments nonetheless prioritize Instagram and Fb for advert buys, with TikTok and YouTube trailing (RNL, 2025). College students are signaling the place they scroll, however faculties aren’t at all times assembly them there. The consequence? Missed possibilities to attach when college students are most curious and impressionable.
The 2024 School Planning Report echoes this generational divide: whereas older college students lean into electronic mail as their major channel, youthful college students deal with social media as their first cease, usually months earlier than they enter the formal admissions funnel (RNL & Halda, 2024).
Don’t sleep on the follow-up.
As soon as a scholar reaches out, timing and tone are all the things.
- 68% of scholars want follow-up through electronic mail.
- 40% favor textual content messages for fast updates or deadline reminders.
- Solely 32% are prepared to share their residence tackle (RNL et al., 2025).
Teenagers are more and more skeptical of establishments that over-collect information or ship irrelevant messages (Pew Analysis Heart, 2024). They anticipate transparency about why data is collected and the way it will likely be used (EDUCAUSE, 2021).
Right here, too, we see each alignment and friction. Faculties know electronic mail and textual content work; the 2025 Advertising Practices information confirms these are the simplest channels (RNL, 2025). However faculties additionally proceed to lean on printed supplies and telephone requires first contacts, regardless that college students rank them not as excessive (RNL et al., 2025).
The 2024 School Planning Report drives residence why this issues: sluggish response instances may be deadly. Almost half of scholars anticipate a reply inside 24 hours, and curiosity drops sharply if colleges take longer (RNL & Halda, 2024). The channel mismatch and pace hole threat undoing the goodwill faculties construct digitally.
Key takeaways for enrollment groups
1. E mail will not be useless, however it should turn out to be smarter
- Personalize by title, grade, pursuits, and inquiry supply.
- Use heat, student-centered language.
- Maintain emails quick, mobile-friendly, and action-oriented.
2. Textual content messaging is gaining floor, use it strategically
- Implement opt-in texting early within the funnel.
- Use for reminders, check-ins, and subsequent steps.
- Align tone and frequency with the scholar’s stage.
3. Belief is the brand new conversion technique
- Clarify why each bit of knowledge is collected.
- Be clear about information use.
- Keep constant, clear communication.
4. Observe-up is a check and a turning level
- Reply rapidly and personally after a scholar takes motion.
- Enhance engagement with well timed, related replies.
5. Section by stage, not simply grade
- Use behavioral information to information segmentation.
- Share exploratory content material early, utility and support assist later.
6. Communication is a relationship, not a activity
- Each message is a chance to construct rapport.
- The establishments that win make college students really feel recognized and revered.
Ultimate phrase: It’s about greater than a click on
College students aren’t simply filling out kinds; they’re extending an invite:
“I’m excited about my future. Assist me see if you’re a part of it.”
In case your establishment can meet that second with empathy, transparency, and good timing, you aren’t simply capturing a lead, you might be constructing a relationship.
Discuss with our advertising and marketing and recruitment consultants
RNL works with faculties and universities throughout the nation to make sure their advertising and marketing and recruitment efforts are optimized and aligned with how scholar seek for faculties. Reach out today for a complimentary consultation to debate:
- Pupil search methods
- Omnichannel communication campaigns
- Personalization and engagement at scale
References
Reasonably priced Faculties On-line. (2024). Information to monetary support for first-generation college students. https://www.affordablecollegesonline.org
Concept3D. (2024). The state of digital excursions in greater training. https://www.concept3d.com
EDUCAUSE. (2021). 2021 scholar know-how report: Supporting the entire scholar. https://www.educause.edu
Hanover Analysis. (2024). Finest practices in potential scholar communications. https://www.hanoverresearch.com
Inside Greater Ed. (2024). Limitations to first-generation scholar engagement. https://www.insidehighered.com
JohnXLibris. (2024). E mail communication preferences of college-bound college students. https://www.johnxlibris.com
Ocelot AI. (2024). Customized communication in greater ed recruitment. https://www.ocelotbot.com
Pew Analysis Heart. (2024). Teenagers, social media, and know-how 2024. https://www.pewresearch.org
RNL & Halda. (2024). 2024 highschool scholar faculty planning report. Ruffalo Noel Levitz.
RNL. (2025). 2025 advertising and marketing and recruitment practices for undergraduate college students. Ruffalo Noel Levitz.
RNL, Halda, & Trendy Campus. (2025). 2025 E-Expectations pattern report. Ruffalo Noel Levitz.
Šola, J., & Zia, A. (2021). Social media as an data supply for potential college students: A overview. Journal of Advertising for Greater Training, 31(2), 310–330. https://doi.org/10.1080/08841241.2020.1866521
Statista. (2023). Share of youngsters in the USA who use social media to analysis faculties. https://www.statista.com Wohn, D. Y., Ellison, N. B., Khan, M. L., Fewins-Bliss, R., & Grey, R. (2013). The position of social media in shaping first-generation highschool college students’ faculty aspirations: A social capital lens. Computer systems & Training, 63, 424–436. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2013.01.004
