Pandemic relief money fading away into dramatic deficits. An ever-shrinking pool of prospective students. Historically low enrollment. When will the uncertainty end?

The reality is this may just be our new reality. With more students reassessing their educational and career goals and our traditional outreach formats not cutting it with today’s learners, what will higher ed do? Hint: There’s a reason schools are now looking to their tech stack and tech leaders to save them from low enrollment rates and even lower student engagement.

A recent survey showed that one-third of two and four-year institutions planned to increase spending on technology in the upcoming academic year. It makes sense — students are (and want to continue to be) online. If our traditional ways of reaching and recruiting students are not working, it’s us that need to change.

The Most Pressing Tech Priorities in Higher Ed

Edtech experts and IT leaders recently identified top concerns and what’s to come as we shift our focus on much-needed improvements to our tech stack and the consequences if we don’t move at the speed of today’s learners. Here are our top four takeaways.

1. Tech Leaders Need a Seat at the Table

Institutions will have to build more bridges between administration and academics and their technology teams. It’s not enough to pull our IT experts into the fold midway or after a new strategic plan is already put in place.

In a time when technology is so enmeshed in how we connect, learn, and live our lives, IT stakeholders need a seat at the table in all institutional decision-making processes. 

Processes like implementing a new CRM, selecting a new website CMS, or adding live chat to your school webpages, can bring up topics that higher ed tech experts have a unique ability to inform and advise on. Whether it’s tech capabilities, aspirations, or forecasting, others may not be aware of the possibilities that technology can unlock for an institution. The CIO and the IT leader’s voice matters now more than ever.

2. Keep An Eye on Privacy and Cybersecurity

Institutions are gathering enormous volumes of data and information about their constituents (prospects, current students, alums, donors, and more). We want to provide a personalized recruitment and engagement experience, but the answer doesn’t lie in more and more data.

Pinpointing what personal information is critical to yield the best results should be our focus when asking for personal information or collecting digital activities. 

Selecting and integrating modern tools will help create hyper-personalized campaigns and provide a uniquely tailored student experience without needing an overwhelming amount of personal information. Keeping an eye on our data use and finding ways to be personal without being intrusive will be a necessary shift as we see more higher ed privacy and cybersecurity regulations appearing. 

3. Make Use of All That Data

It’s time to shift our approach from data insights into data action.

This means that instead of thinking about data as a result of campaigns or initiatives, we’re using the data we have to help inform our next steps and kickstart projects and future strategies. Future-oriented institutions will lead the charge here, creating innovative solutions by focusing on what they know about students’ wants and needs and acting on it.

We can glean so much from our constituents' actions and behaviors that we’re not even aware of at this point. Where are the places where you can extract data to tell a story? 

Behavioral marketing strategies can help you intelligently respond to student behaviors as they progress through their journey, but only if you have the technology in place to extract that data along their journey.

The right CRM and SIS will help here; implementing the right tech where you need it and having dedicated data analysts will prove crucial as we continue to see more and more interactions going digital. 

4. We Need Technology for a Frictionless Student-Experience

On-demand, one-click, instantaneous. It’s how we live our lives. So why is higher ed so far behind in providing the same consumer experience that students get from their favorite brands?

Before we usher in the new wave of technology like smart glasses and virtual reality into our campuses, we need to make sure our current systems are user-friendly, frictionless, and student-centered.

Are our applications mobile-first or primarily on paper? Are your campaigns triggered by students at the right time in their preferred formats or mass scheduled? Do your forms ask only the essential questions, or do they take too long to fill out? Are you utilizing captivating communication like 1-to-1 video messaging or still sending lengthy plain text emails with no clear calls to action? 

Students face enough barriers to higher education as it is. Let’s make sure we have the right tech in place (it’s out there!) to address these issues first so we can ensure students have a frictionless experience. 

New Research: A Forward Thinking Approach for Us and Students

Although these past couple of years may have left us working in higher ed overstretched and exhausted, there is no doubt we can turn things around if we focus on the issues at hand and are proactive about the technologies we adopt and the strategies we put in place. 

As higher ed focuses on tech, Element451 is proud to team up with Enrollify to conduct a first-of-its-kind report on the State of Enrollment Marketing Technology to uncover the software and tools that today's marketing and admissions teams use to recruit students. 

Contribute today by taking our survey and you'll get early access to the results and a chance to win a $500 gift card. 

If you're looking to take the next step in upping your technology game, book a personalized demo of Element451 and see how we can help fill in the gaps.