Office Hours With EAB

EAB’s Madeleine Rhyneer and Beth Donaldson break down what it takes to simultaneously manage both graduate and undergraduate enrollment. They explore how to develop bespoke recruitment strategies, financial aid approaches, and marketing messages appropriate for each market. The two also offer practical advice on structuring teams, avoiding common pitfalls, and balancing two distinct enrollment strategies without stretching your resources too thin.

In this episode, Allison Peeler and Val Fox share insights from EAB’s survey of more than 120 marketing and enrollment leaders, highlighting the growing importance of investing in website experience as institutions prioritize enrollment growth. They discuss how AI is changing student search behavior, how teams are adapting with limited resources, and where institutions can take practical steps now to strengthen their digital strategy and boost enrollment.

EAB’s Madeleine Rhyneer and Michael Koppenheffer examine new data on how students are using AI to learn about colleges and why it matters to admissions teams. Madeleine and Michael explore four possible scenarios for how things might play out in the years ahead. They also offer specific steps teams should take now to thrive no matter what the future holds.

In this episode of Office Hours with EAB, we talk to Alabama Possible Executive Director Chandra Scott and University of Montevallo Executive Director of Admissions Audrey Crawford to explore how they launched a statewide direct admissions initiative in partnership with EAB’s Match platform. The two discuss how the initiative came together, the challenges they overcame, and the powerful reactions of the students who participated. The conversation highlights the power of transformation to improve outcomes for students and institutions.

EAB senior leaders unpack four converging forces reshaping higher education. The conversation explores how political volatility, financial strain, demographic headwinds, and rapid advances in AI are challenging traditional university growth assumptions and business models. The speakers highlight winning strategies that can help institutions survive in a low-growth era and urge higher ed leaders to prepare for prolonged disruption.

EAB’s Beth Donaldson and Anne Dodson unpack new research revealing how AI, politics, and stealth shopping are shifting application behaviors for adult learners and disrupting traditional enrollment strategies. Anne and Beth also share tips for graduate enrollment teams on where to devote their budgets and energies to improve lead generation and ultimately boost enrollment.

As enrollments tighten and institutional pressure mounts, the work of student success professionals has never been more essential. EAB’s LaToya White sits down with student affairs leaders from Skidmore College and Lone Star College to examine the realities of staff burnout, capacity constraints, and misaligned institutional priorities. Together, they share practical insights for higher ed leaders looking to better support this workforce and build a stronger, more sustainable talent pipeline.

EAB’s Paul Gunther sits down with University of Central Arkansas President Houston Davis to reflect on the first year of the UCA Commitment, an ambitious effort to create a debt-free pathway to a college degree for eligible students across the state. President Davis shares what’s working, what’s been harder than expected, and the lessons his team has learned since launch. The conversation offers practical insights for university leaders looking to improve affordability while navigating other complex institutional challenges.

This week on Office Hours with EAB, EAB’s Val Fox and Todd Heilman unpack the adult learner mindset using insights from EAB’s latest adult learner survey. They discuss how increased cost sensitivity and evolving college search patterns are reshaping how adult learners make decisions. The conversation also offers practical insights for enrollment leaders looking to optimize their website and navigate federal policy changes.

EAB’s Beth Donaldson is joined by Sydney Mathes of Service to School to explore what authentic institutional commitment to military-connected students really looks like. They discuss common misconceptions, the importance of wraparound services, and why admissions should be viewed as the starting line—not the finish line—for military student success. The conversation closes with practical advice for university leaders looking to serve this important population more effectively.