61% of Colleges Met Their Enrollment Goals. Here's What the Other 39% Got Wrong.

Sixty-one percent of colleges met their Fall 2026 enrollment goals, according to a July survey of 134 enrollment leaders conducted by Niche and shared with Inside Higher Ed. That sounds decent — until you look at the small colleges.

Only 50% of institutions with fewer than 2,000 students were confident they'd hit their goals. And their confidence had declined since earlier in the admissions cycle.

The survey asked what strategies worked. The top three levers were campus visits, faster and clearer financial aid offers, and parent engagement. But the most interesting finding was what didn't work.

Discounting didn't work.

Only 22% of institutions listed "increased discounting" as an important lever. And the ones that did were less likely to hit their targets — 48% of institutions that leaned on increased discounting met their deposit goals, compared to 67% of those that didn't.

In other words: cutting your price doesn't save you. Communicating clearly does.

Marketing budgets correlated with success.

Colleges that increased their marketing budgets were more likely to meet their enrollment goals than those who held steady or decreased. This lines up with what I've seen in more than 15 years in higher ed marketing — the schools that invest in being found and understood are the schools that fill their classes.

The #1 unsolved challenge: brand differentiation.

When Niche asked institutions to describe their biggest unsolved enrollment challenge, 30% pointed to brand recognition and differentiation. One respondent put it plainly: "Our competitors are seemingly everyone."

If your school can't answer "why us?" in one clear sentence, families can't either. And if families can't answer it, they choose the school that can.

What actually moved the needle:

1. Campus visits — 92% of small colleges listed this as a top lever. The in-person experience still closes the deal. Your website should make booking a visit the easiest thing a prospective family can do.
2. Clearer financial aid offers — not more aid, but clearer communication about what families will actually pay. Niche found that quicker, clearer aid offers outperformed bigger discounts.
3. Parent engagement — parents are co-deciding. If your content speaks only to the student, you're missing the person who signs the check and drives the campus visit.
4. Marketing investment — schools that increased marketing budgets hit their goals more often. The cheapest strategy is the one that doesn't work.

The takeaway for small teams:

You don't need a bigger budget than the school down the road. You need clearer answers. Who you are, what you cost, what students can do after, and why a family should visit your campus this month.

Pick one. Fix it this week.

Want a full 10-point check for your school's website? Grab the free Colorado Digital Front Door Audit.