From Stasis to Strategy: Enrollment Teams, It’s Time to Act

Churn happens in every setting. Promotions, departures, budget realignment, team and department consolidation.

Disruptive, yes, but hardly unprecedented – a common cycle typically prompted by fiscal changes and then the disruptions ripple out from there. 

And yet, change rarely feels routine. Especially at the scale we are experiencing right now.

Still, your programs need promotion, your Deans have their own priorities, and everyone knows that your important leadership chair is about to turn over (you know the one, right?).

What is an enrollment team to do? Do you launch a new marketing campaign now, or wait? What if today’s A, B, and C priorities become tomorrow’s D, E, and F because the new leader coming in 4 or 5 months will have their own ideas.

And what happens in the meantime as you try to sort it all out? Stasis.  

So often, teams sit on their hard-won budgets, waiting for stability and clarity. An approach, for sure, but not a good one. Doing nothing isn’t leadership (too blunt?) – and doing nothing will do nothing to advance your yield or deliver your next class.

We all know there are legitimate excuses for not hitting your numbers. Yet we see this stasis mode all the time. And yet...

What your enrollment team needs in times of ambiguity: smart bets and clarity. 

First, a bit of encouragement for our beleaguered enrollment colleagues: In a recent NPR segment, Shivika Singh, a freshman psychology major from New Delhi who began her studies at the University of Buffalo this fall, told reporter Elissa Nadworny, “I only had one goal from the beginning –  it was to go to college here. If I didn’t reach that goal, it would have been very painful.” 

Shivika further explained she learned from a group chat that other Indian students accepted to her institution, weren’t so lucky. They did not get visa appointments in time for the fall semester. Despite the difficulties and disappointment, many deferred to spring. Others changed course to the UK.  

Our takeaway: despite barriers, a US education remains the very clear goal for many international students. It’s easy for many of us living in the US to extend our dismay over the changing immigration policies flowing from the current US administration to the international student community. Don't get us wrong, the negative headlines flowing out of the US to the rest of the world, the media reports, the student chatter -- all of this has a negative effect and we see that in the declining number of international students coming into the US as of fall 2025. No denying that reality.

But don't lose sight of this reality: international students want to come to the US to study and gain internship opportunities. They absolutely see the opportunity of a US education.

Our point: despite macro enrollment declines, the US will remain a leading, highly desirable study destination.

Focus on that, communicate that internally, and get moving. 

In another blog post, we'll share a helpful marketing analogy. Anyone here recall Coca-cola's 1985 launch of New Coke? The US is in a New Coke moment right now. IYKYK.

Enrollment Teams Need Proactive Leadership  

When leaders freeze, institutions lose ground. Competitors step in. Opportunities evaporate. 

The international student centers around the world notice who shows up -- even more so when times are tough and the interactions with US institutions start to slide. If you are still there, on the calls, visiting, emailing, encouraging - your work and interest resonate SO much more.

Think back to Mr. Trump’s first term. based on Intead's groundbreaking research reported in the New York Times, Chronicle of Higher Ed, and on NPR, a vocal set of international students were very clear: they would not be coming to the US. Not in a Trump-era climate, anyway. And yet, the macro numbers rose. Are we listening to that relatively recent reality? 

The dream of an American education runs deep in students worldwide. Intead's qualitative and quantitative research this year backs that up. Proactive leaders know this and are laying groundwork now by positioning their institutions to welcome the students who are sure to come, in the near- and long-term.

We understand the inclination for many US academic leaders to back away from international student investment. Truly, we get it. Funds are scarce and must be allocated where returns will follow. Of course!

Nevertheless, institutions following the conservative inclination to sit tight are ignoring opportunity. Those that back away are misreading how to take advantage of changing scenarios, the economics of change that historically drives some to succeed and others to stagger or fail.

What Proactive Enrollment Leadership Looks Like 

Strong enrollment leaders use transition periods wisely. The adage: Never waste a good crisis.

Leaders invest in fundamentals that will sustain enrollment teams regardless of who sits in the dean's, provost's, or chancellor's chair. Enrollment leaders: 

• Invest in partnerships and trusted pipelines in locations where international students continue to seek US degrees. Requires a bit of data analysis, but you'll know it when you see it.

• Leverage intelligence and act on real-time market data that identifies where demand is changing and growing. Employment trends, cross-border trade deals, all of these point to opportunity in local markets.

• Refine messaging by understanding the obstacles prospective international students are facing and directly addressing these circumstances and student drivers. 

• Engage authentically by tapping alumni, current students, and well-vetted on-the-ground agents to work as advocates. Invest in and maintain these relationships during the tough times and they will perform even better as the market improves.

• Streamline internal processes including CRM and SIS platforms and admissions processes to leverage efficiency tools. You don't want to lose leads to leaky pipes. Always a good idea to shore up the systems.

Action is the antidote to anxious times for you and your team. Recruitment plans you wrote last year aren’t going to fly this year. Too many policy shifts, staff changes, and other factors. But you have data and experience on your side. And you have partners in the field with a long-term presence and long-term view. Use them to adapt.  

Find the opportunities and show up with information that matters. Present it in concise and compelling ways to your colleagues and leadership (call us for help with this).

For instance, right now, Indian students waiting on student visa appointments don’t need more deadline reminders. Assurance that they’re welcome on your campus as soon as they do get those visas, however, is helpful. Offer messages from current students explaining their realities here in the US. Their lived reality now that they have arrived on campus. The pros and the cons. Because the pros still outway the cons, despite the changes going on around us.

Another recent reality to build your confidence, based on comments at a NACAC session from Rita Mariconi, EducationUSA REAC Regional Manager for South America, Southern Cone,  the EducationUSA fair in Sao Paulo that just wrapped had the highest student participation rate in its history. Reflect on that for a moment to balance what you might think is going on in the minds of Latin American students.

Leaders who move will come out ahead. Proactive leadership is less about trying to predict the exact future and more about preparing for what will eventually be. If your team is ready to move from stasis to strategy and execution, be in touch: info@intead.com.