Office Hours With EAB

EAB’s Ed Venit hosts a conversation with Knack CEO and co-founder Samyr Qureshi, who shares how institutions can build a peer tutoring strategy to fill gaps in academic support services. The two discuss how Knack’s approach helps institutions recruit, train, and compensate student tutors. They also explain how a student-led tutoring model can help scale up support infrastructure and reach more at-...

EAB’s Ellyn Artis and Ed Venit examine the new Student Access and Earnings Classification system—set to launch this spring—that could turn traditional college rankings on their head. Unlike rankings that prioritize prestige and exclusivity, this new framework was designed by the Carnegie Foundation and the American Council on Education to put student access and career outcomes front and center. El...

EAB’s Madeleine Rhyneer and Michael Koppenheffer review new analysis of over 80 school characteristics to uncover what draws students to U.S. campuses today. Spoiler alert: the number of majors offered, availability of student organizations, campus safety, and favorable weather all outweigh affordability in influencing students’ college decisions. Learn how to leverage your true strengths and oppo...

EAB’s Tara Zirkel hosts a conversation with Dr. Jessica Gerrity, a grant expert from McAllister & Quinn, a federal grant consulting and government relations firm in Washington, DC. The two discuss what changes at the Department of Education could mean for grant funding. They also share tips on how university leaders might adapt grant strategies in the months ahead.

EAB’s Carla Hickman and Kate Brown discuss the practical effects of the “Dear Colleague” letter and offer insights into how higher education institutions might respond to increasingly aggressive federal attacks on DEI. They urge listeners to prepare for all contingencies while avoiding the risks of proactive compliance. Carla and Kate also share resources available to help education leaders make i...

AI is reshaping how we search for and discover information online—so what does that mean for university websites? In this episode, EAB’s Emily Upton and Philip Walton break down the profound impact of AI on search and share practical strategies for staying ahead. They also offer the latest SEO tips to boost traffic and engage site visitors more effectively.

EAB’s Chrysanthi Violaris and Ally Stanton explore best practices for benchmarking in advancement, helping teams assess their fundraising productivity compared to peer institutions and past performance. They discuss how to interpret key metrics, avoid common pitfalls, and use data strategically to strengthen decision-making. The episode also offers practical tips on leveraging benchmarking insight...

EAB’s Rebecca Kelley interviews Chris Goodbourn from GEMS Education, one of the largest private K-12 education providers in the world. Rebecca and Chris discuss the challenges US colleges face in attracting international students. They also share tips—including leveraging EAB’s Global Match platform—to connect with and enroll more overseas students more cost-effectively.

EAB’s Val Fox and Todd Heilman unpack data from a new survey that examines the mindset and preferences of today’s adult learners. Val and Todd highlight important changes in current and prospective students’ search behavior, expectations, and application preferences. They also offer enrollment leaders tips to engage and enroll prospective students more effectively.

Community college enrollment was up nearly six percent in 2024, outpacing every other higher education sector, and retention rates are higher now than before the pandemic. EAB’s Tara Zirkel hosts a discussion with Dr. Martha Parham from the American Association of Community Colleges about how to keep this momentum going in 2025. They also share thoughts on potential challenges and opportunities th...

EAB’s Rebecca Knisely and Jesse Holzbach share tips and tools (like Appily Advance) to help institutions attract and enroll adult learners and graduate students. Learn counterintuitive best practices for optimizing your website, prioritizing information about degree programs, and making lead nurturing a year-round strategy.

EAB’s Kena Wolf and Val Fox share insights from a secret shopping spree across the graduate schools at 50 universities to see how they stack up against one another and industry best practices in adult learner recruitment. They also share tips for institutional leaders on how to adopt a “testing and learning” culture that energizes enrollment growth without breaking the bank.

EAB’s Brian Schueler and Todd Heilman share the latest findings from EAB’s research into graduate and online enrollment trends. The two discuss how institutions are rebounding from the pandemic enrollment dip. They also advise university leaders on how to serve adult learners who increasingly want community and in-person interaction blended with online alternatives to give them maximum flexibility...

Colleges face extraordinary financial pressures with an average of one per week closing for good. Merger activity has slowed so the best option available to the most financially challenged institutions is to minimize the damage to students, faculty, and staff before closing down for good. For the rest, EAB’s Michael Fischer and Molly Bell share steps that university leaders should take to assess t...

EAB’s Lindsay Schappell hosts a conversation with Dr. Andrea Lewis from Spelman College about helping new students get off to a strong start. Dr. Lewis shares details of the student onboarding and orientation process at Spelman, which starts with a college readiness program the summer before they enroll. Spelman’s student support efforts also include mandatory study groups for first-year students...

Jonathan April, head of EAB’s College Greenlight team, hosts a conversation with Andrew Moe, Rajwantie Sahai, and Julia Perkins — all from an organization called Matriculate. The group discusses how Matriculate is narrowing the college access gap by recruiting and training college students to serve as “near-peer” advisors for high school students. They also share advice for higher education leader...

EAB’s Michael Koppenheffer and Pam Kiecker Royall discuss a new survey that shows most prospective college students want colleges to send them more personalized recruiting messages that incorporate what institutions know about their academic and non-academic interests. Students say this kind of hyper-personalized messaging saves them time and makes them feel the university values them as individua...

EAB’s Carla Hickman joins Seramount President Subha Barry to review the findings of a new paper that explores the rapid decline in student readiness. That decline is causing unprecedented numbers of young adults to either forgo college completely or enter college without the skills needed to be successful. Carla and Subha share advice for leaders working in higher education and corporate America o...

EAB’s Erin Preston hosts a discussion with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Vice President for Enrollment Management Dr. Jonathan Wexler about his study of university consolidation and closures. The two discuss the types of institutions at greatest risk and options available to those facing declining enrollments and revenues. They also offer insight into current trends in M&A activity versus outri...

EAB’s Sean Tivnan and JP LaFors discuss how new college search behaviors are forcing university websites to evolve. The two share tips for connecting and engaging with Gen Z “stealth shoppers” who are heavily influenced by your institution’s digital presence. Tips include quick fixes and more comprehensive strategies to improve your site’s navigation and information architecture.

EAB’s Linda Marchlewski is joined by Todd McLees, an internationally recognized strategist and thought leader on the future of work and learning. The two share why it’s so critical for colleges to teach students how to use AI to make them better architects, actors, or anything else they want to be. They also share tips for higher ed leaders on how to develop private-sector partnerships that will h...

EAB’s Val Fox and Jennie Bailey take a fresh look at the relationship between universities and OPMs, companies that partner with schools to help them develop and market online programs. The two offer tips on how to exit a relationship with an OPM that is no longer generating sufficient value. They also outline steps schools should follow to help them transition to a more effective growth strategy.

EAB’s Jenny Jones hosts a discussion with the University of New England VP for Institutional Advancement (Alicia Fereday) and the Associate VP of Finance and Administration (Matthew Kogut). The three offer tips to help department heads communicate more effectively with the people in charge of approving budget requests. Tips include advice on planning, prioritizing, presenting data to support your...

EAB’s Sally Amoruso sits down with Paul LeBlanc and George Siemens from Southern New Hampshire University to discuss how higher education institutions can reap the benefits of AI. Paul and George argue that university leaders have been slow to embrace AI despite the extraordinary opportunity the technology gives us to transform higher education for the better. This episode was excerpted from a rec...

EAB’s Brett Schraeder hosts a conversation with Bill Hall, the founder and President of Applied Policy Research. The two discuss the impact of the FAFSA delays on this year’s enrollment figures and discuss the extent to which admissions teams may still have financial aid levers they can pull that could boost yield. They also talk about how APR will be working together with EAB’s Financial Aid Opti...