The New Path to Enrollment: Insights from EAB’s 2026 First-Year Experience Survey
Students are turning to new digital and AI-driven tools to research schools, applying to more colleges than ever before, and keeping their options open longer. As a result, traditional signals of student intent have weakened, and late-cycle competition has intensified.

How should enrollment leaders adapt their strategy in response?

Drawing on responses from more than 9,500 first-year college students, this on demand webinar examines emerging shifts in how students search for, evaluate, and select colleges, including changing perceptions of the value of college, the growing role of AI and digital discovery tools, and increased competition late in the cycle.

Watch Here

Webinar Presenters

Michael Koppenheffer
Vice President,
Enroll360 Marketing, Innovation and AI Strategy
Pam Royall, PhD
Head of Research,
EAB Enrollment Services