Ask many higher ed marketers what students need to hear first, and you’ll get some version of the same answer: “Show them they belong here.” Lead with culture. Lead with values. Lead with identity.
New national research says that’s exactly backwards.
VisionPoint Marketing partnered with ADV Market Research and Consulting to survey more than 1,000 traditional-age prospective undergraduate students. The goal was simple: figure out what content actually builds emotional connection, deepens trust, and moves students from curiosity to a confidence throughout the enrollment process. The findings are now available in our full research study, and they should change how you think about every page, email, and social post you produce.
The Funnel Is Upside Down
Most institutions engage prospects in a familiar sequence: spark interest in who we are, build a sense of belonging, then (much later, often after an application is already underway) get into the cost and outcomes conversation.
Students are doing the opposite. Before they’ll let themselves feel excited or connected to a school, they want two questions answered: Can I afford this and will it be worth it? Only once those are settled do they start asking what daily life is actually like. In other words, belonging is the last filter, not the first.
Cost & Outcomes Aren’t Cold Data
Furthermore, the line between informational content and relational content barely exists in students’ minds. Content that clearly explains outcomes, cost, and next steps isn’t just useful; it’s what makes students feel something. Confidence, it turns out, is the emotion that drives enrollment decisions. Vague inspiration doesn’t move people forward. Clarity does.
Meanwhile, some of the content institutions invest in most heavily (generic brand storytelling, faculty explaining how a program works, messaging about institutional values) consistently tested as the least compelling. Not because students dislike faculty or don’t care about mission. It’s that this content rarely answers the question actually on their mind: what’s in it for me?
We Have a Timing Crisis, Not a Volume Crisis
One of the more counterintuitive findings is that institutions don’t necessarily have a “too much content” problem. They have a “wrong content at the wrong moment” problem. 1 out of 3 students early in their search (the ones just starting to explore) say they don’t get enough relevant information. On the other hand, 1 out of 3 students report that they receive too much communication from colleges when they’re applying and actively ignore or tune it out.
To move students forward, our communications sequences must align with the student’s psychological state at each milestone. The fix isn’t sending less. It’s re-sequencing what gets delivered when.
What This Means for Your Strategy
The research points to three clear shifts institutions need to make:
- Lead with brand promise, not brand identity. Every piece of content should answer “what’s in it for the student,” not just describe the institution.
- Treat your website as the primary arena for engagement. Build it to deliver cost clarity, career outcomes, and clear next steps (not just institutional information).
- Sequence your messaging to match how students search. Meet students with the right content at the right moment instead of forcing them through a traditional enrollment funnel.
And underneath all of it: students have finely tuned filters for content that feels stock, repetitive, or overly promotional. Institutional authenticity is a prerequisite for anything else to land.
Get the Full Findings
This post only scratches the surface. The complete research study, Moving Traditional Undergraduate Students from Interest to Action, breaks down exactly which content types perform best at each stage of the search — exploring, researching, applying, and enrolling — along with the full data behind what builds affinity, trust, and confidence at each step.
If you’re rethinking your website, your admissions content calendar, or your broader enrollment marketing strategy for the year ahead, this is the research to build it on. Download the full whitepaper to see the complete data set and stage-by-stage content recommendations.