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As we head into 2025, higher education marketing is at a crossroads. As professionals, we’re grappling with shrinking public trust, declining enrollments and, somehow, still having to explain why Comic Sans just doesn’t work. But here’s the good news: When constraints pile up, creativity flourishes. I’ve seen this firsthand at Forsyth Technical Community College, where innovation and a student-centered focus have helped us rise to the challenge.
That’s why I’m sharing three predictions for higher ed marketing in 2025.
- Student Success Will Be King
Higher ed marketing has always been about showing students how college can change their lives. Students today are skeptical, and for good reason. They’re asking tough questions about whether a degree is worth the cost, especially with money tight and job markets shifting. Colleges can’t rely on broad promises anymore; they need to show clear, tangible outcomes that prove their value.
Colleges need to rethink how they define and market success to today’s students. Talking about transformation or big-picture goals isn’t enough anymore. Students want proof right now: retention rates, first-year achievements and clear pathways to the next step. At Forsyth Tech, for instance, we highlight graduation rates and transfer successes as part of our marketing, showing students what they can achieve. In 2025, the schools that show measurable success in real time will be the ones students trust most.
Historically, central marketing and communications teams have focused on high-level branding, PR or enrollment marketing, leaving student success efforts to academic and student support units. But as student success becomes king, marketing departments will need to dive deeper into this area. It’s not enough to value student success; marcomm teams have to take an active role in making it happen. This could mean working closely with advising teams to improve messaging, creating campaigns around persistence initiatives or using marketing expertise to promote resources that keep students on track academically and personally.
Marketing can play a crucial role in supporting student success directly as well. For example, targeted communications can help students navigate critical milestones like registration deadlines, support resources or even encouragement to re-enroll when persistence drops. Campaigns can go beyond enrollment to improve retention and graduation rates, making marcomm a critical partner in the success equation.
- AI Will Shift From Experimentation to Transformation
For years, AI in higher ed marketing has been in a testing phase. Chat bots have been answering basic questions, predictive analytics have been flagging trends and automation has been making small gains. In 2025, AI will move from flashy pilots to delivering measurable outcomes that truly matter. Colleges will stop treating AI as an experiment and start embedding it into core strategies to better support students and improve engagement.
At Forsyth Tech, we’ve already seen AI tools like chat bots transform how we connect with prospective and current students. In the past year alone, our chat bot saved over 170,000 minutes of staff time, freeing advisers to focus on deeper, more impactful conversations with students who needed personal support. But the potential goes far beyond efficiency. AI can guide students through their entire college journey, from initial interest to graduation, with timely reminders, personalized support and tailored resources.
The next step isn’t proving that AI works—it’s scaling what’s already working to make a bigger impact. Schools that embrace AI as a tool for transformation will lead the way in creating a student experience that is smarter, more responsive and ultimately more human.
- The Rise of Alternative Credentials and Flexible Learning Pathways
Today’s students are looking for programs that lead directly to a career, prioritizing practical skills they can put to work right away. Certificates, apprenticeships and other alternative credentials are becoming popular because they offer practical skills without the hefty price tag of a traditional degree.
For marketing professionals, this shift is a call to action. These credentials address real challenges students face, like affordability and balancing education with other responsibilities. Marketing teams will play a pivotal role in positioning these pathways as viable, respected options that meet students where they are. At Forsyth Tech, for example, we’ve built campaigns around apprenticeship programs and microcredentials, using targeted messaging to highlight their flexibility and career-focused outcomes. Imagine an IT student who has to end their semester early because they need to take care of an ailing parent. By having microcredentials and certificates integrated into their program of study, they could still come away from a college semester with something substantial, rather than just debt.
But in 2025, it won’t be enough to market these programs as stand-alone options. The real challenge will be integrating them into the broader brand story of the institution. Communicating that your college offers both traditional degrees and innovative credentials requires clarity and consistency in messaging. This is where marcomm teams will need to lean into storytelling. This means using alumni success stories, employer partnerships and transparent outcomes data to show that alternative credentials are not just an option, but a smart choice.
Marketing professionals will also need to consider how they design campaigns to reach nontraditional students. Think about the working parents, career changers and part-time learners who are often the primary audience for these pathways. Marcomm teams can make alternative credentials a key part of their institution’s appeal by emphasizing how these programs are accessible, relevant and tailored to diverse student needs.
The world of higher ed marketing is changing fast, and the old rules just don’t cut it. To stay ahead, we’ve got to stay sharp by listening to what students actually need, using data and integrated AI to guide our decisions and being ready to adjust when the moment demands it.
The takeaway? Higher ed marketing has to lead with courage. It’s not about following trends; it’s about defining them.
