Apply the latest data on prospective students’ needs, preferences, and perceptions to your institution’s recruitment strategies in 2025–26 and beyond.
Many of today’s high school students are optimistic about pursuing higher education but expect learning experiences that align with their financial realities, career aims, and support needs. For institutions to capture student interest in this era, it’s critical for leaders to understand what prospective students need from colleges and universities to make enrollment decisions.
In June and July 2025, Hanover Research surveyed nearly 1,000 U.S. high school students (ages 16–19) to examine what factors are important to them when considering where to apply and enroll in college, as well as if they plan to attend at all.
Download Hanover’s 2025 National Prospective Student Survey report to understand what matters most to students as they consider life after high school, including:
- Enrollment barriers and motivators
- Degree and program interests
- Location, format, and scheduling priorities
- Outreach timing and communication preferences
- First-year support needs
“Higher education leaders who use evidence to make decisions and prioritize student-centered innovations will not only improve institutional outlook but also attract and empower more learners to succeed in a changing world.”
What Matters Most to Today’s Prospective Students?
Despite recent national increases in college applications, public perception of higher ed’s importance continues to decline, and many high school juniors and seniors already believe they can’t afford or don’t need college to succeed in their future careers.
Knowing these challenges exist, higher ed leaders understand that what may have worked in the past to recruit, enroll, and retain students no longer guarantees results. Instead, colleges and universities must pay even closer attention to prospective students’ evolving behaviors, attitudes, and preferences to retain a competitive edge.
Although the external headwinds are great, institutions continue to have agency to reimagine and improve their enrollment marketing, recruitment, and retention strategies.
By carefully listening to students and analyzing data, such as national and local survey findings, higher education leaders can more effectively and directly address students’ core concerns about cost, career readiness, flexibility, and connection.
The college and university leaders who use evidence to make decisions and prioritize student-centered innovations will not only improve institutional outlook but also attract and empower more learners to succeed in a changing world.
