Move over, declining high school graduation rates. There’s a new cliff in town. It’s known as the search cliff in higher education.
It began during the COVID-19 pandemic, but this is a more significant trend. Fewer students are taking standardized tests like the SAT and ACT, which have long been a core source of prospective students in the database of admissions offices nationwide. As a result, traditional search strategies are losing their effectiveness.
In that environment, institutions of all sizes need to find ways to unearth, connect with, and enroll students that match their target profile and demographics. It’s time to optimize your higher ed lead generation.
That’s not an easy switch to make. But, with the fall 2025 recruitment cycle wrapping up and fall 2026 recruitment about to kick into high gear, now is the perfect time to start. Learn how your team can adapt to the looming search cliff through smarter strategies and more targeted tools.
Understanding the Search Cliff in Higher Education
Admission marketing has long followed a familiar process. The vast majority of high school students take standardized tests like the PSAT, SAT, and ACT and check a box that allows their data to be shared with schools they’re interested in. Schools can buy these ‘search’ names from testing providers like the College Board. Then, they can send their direct mail and digital outreach to students who match their target demographic and academic profile.
But that traditional model is changing. Data privacy regulations and perceptions have become more stringent, making students less likely to check that little box. That trend, combined with a shift to a digital SAT and PSAT, has some experts estimating a 40% drop in response rates over the next four years.
Also, there’s the college-side trend of making standardized testing scores less important in admissions efforts. Starting with the COVID-19 pandemic (and in part to create a more equitable acceptance process), an estimated 80% of higher education institutions are now test-optional. Of course, shrinking admissions budgets would have made buying test names a less viable higher ed lead generation strategy, even if the search cliff wasn’t a reality.
Put another way, the search cliff in higher education is not a temporary disruption. This is a long-term shift in both student behavior and institutional realities that is shrinking the top of the enrollment funnel. Only a shift toward more qualified, intent-driven lead strategies can suitably address this problem.
The Pitfalls of Relying on Traditional Higher Ed Lead Generation
Part of the reason that the search cliff is such an urgent problem is that, for too long, colleges and universities have relied on it to fuel their enrollment funnel. But in reality, the names entering your database as a result of a search buy never had a high chance of success. They only had the potential to fuel that funnel due to sheer volume.
It turns out that buying large volumes of names naturally yields lower engagement and conversion rates. It amounts to cold outreach; while you know students intend to go to college based on them taking a standardized test, they may have never heard of your school.
As a result, too many institutions waste time and resources chasing leads that were never a good fit for their student body and mission to begin with. For example, a rural, private liberal arts college may spend print, mailing, and time-related resources reaching out to a student who really wants to move into a large city or go to a public school.
At the same time, both because fewer names are available and because enrollment pressures are rising, students may receive similar, impersonal introductory outreach from dozens of colleges that bought their name. In a time when personalization should be a core part of your enrollment marketing strategy, their first impression of your school is largely impersonal and feels like every other school.
That’s why the traditional model of search name-based higher ed lead generation is no longer viable. The return on investment begins to diminish, not only because the search cliff means fewer names are available but also because the environment calls for new strategies. Intent-based lead generation strategies can provide a solution.
Rethinking Search Cliff-Proof Outreach With Intent-Based Strategies
Enrollment strategies based on search names are akin to fishing in a large pool. But there’s another option. If you can limit your outreach to students you already know might be interested in your school, you can shift your entire communications plan accordingly.
Start by building strategies that prioritize students who are showing behavioral intent. Their behavior on your website or with your institution should be predictive of whether or not they’re interested in your school, which can then lead you to plan more strategic outreach. Consider:
- Sending more information about your campus visits and virtual tours to users who were recently on your admission visit web pages
- Sending information about your financial aid and scholarships to students who have browsed your tuition pages
- Sharing social media recaps and videos of recent student events for users who have been browsing your residence life pages
The possibilities are nearly endless. Through segmentation and behavioral triggers, you can send timely and personalized outreach to students you know will be interested in specific types of content. The more you can understand and track your prospective students’ decision-making processes, the more you can use your content and outreach to support their enrollment journey.
Shifting to an intent-based model requires some adjustments and at least some tools to better track and understand student intent. FlippedApp can help institutions take that approach by connecting with students who show strong intent, providing high-value leads in a post-search cliff world.
Expanding Your Reach Without Sacrificing Student Fit
Initially, moving away from a reliance on student search names may seem like a drastic reduction in the potential reach of your enrollment mail pieces, emails, and other outreach. In reality, it has the potential to expand your reach while keeping it more targeted than any search-related outreach could accomplish.
Start by using tools and platforms that introduce your institution to new audiences without relying on mass outreach. Social media has long been an important part of that process, and college search sites can also play a role. Take a look at how a tool like FlippedApp can allow your institution to showcase itself to a broader, more diverse pool of prospective students.
At the same time, you need to keep your admissions criteria and prospective student profile in mind. Only leverage tools that allow you to limit your outreach and resources based on that profile. Narrow, intentional targeting is key throughout the process.
Finally, create a stronger focus on storytelling in your content. The more you can tell your students and alums stories on topics relevant to your audience, the better. The messenger of these stories also matters. For example, student ambassadors can allow you to reach untapped markets by posting their stories and interacting with other students like them.
Building a Sustainable Enrollment Funnel for the Future
Amid the search cliff in higher education, it’s time to think long-term. Rather than simply trying to fill the top of your enrollment funnel and hoping that some students will trickle through mass outreach, a more intentional approach built on student intent can drive much better results for future enrollment cycles.
That means a focus on building brand awareness and affinity earlier in the student journey. Instead of a general introduction to your school, make that introduction relevant to what you know about them already based on their behaviors and stated interests. Students will respond well to institutions that seem like they care from the first moment prospects receive content.
Becoming more personalized can seem complicated, especially when you’re working with high volumes of students at the top of your funnel. Therefore, investing in scalable technology that can mass-personalize your efforts is crucial. Ideally, your enrollment marketing tech stack should grow with your team’s needs and with a rising number of inquiries resulting from your tactics.
Above all, create systems, processes, and tactics that prioritize building relationships with your prospective students and parents. In the years-long enrollment journey, they will gravitate toward schools that try to get to know them and cater to their needs. Transactional content has its place in event confirmations but should not be the baseline for all of your prospective student outreach.
Overcoming the Search Cliff to Build Better Enrollment Efforts
The search cliff in higher education is here, and its challenges are significant. But they are also far from impossible to overcome. Adjusting to the reality of fewer search names in the funnel now allows for smarter, more sustainable enrollment efforts that better engage your students and make them more likely to enroll at your school.
To get there, it’s time to reassess your current higher ed lead generation strategies. The new era of enrollment marketing is here, and it will require a student-first approach that is already common in many retention efforts.
Schools that can adapt to this new reality early will have a massive advantage over their competitors. Contact Concept3D to learn how we help higher education institutions prepare for the modern challenges of marketing and communication in the field. Then, learn how FlippedApp can help institutions thrive beyond the search cliffs through quality leads, expanded reach, and personalized student engagement.