The enrollment market has reached an inflection point. Application growth is stalling, families are more price-sensitive than ever, and the traditional “value” pitch of a private college isn’t cutting through the noise. Students and parents are asking a new question: “How does this college prepare me for a world shaped by AI?”
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The data should capture everyone’s attention. Nearly 30% of prospective students already use AI at least occasionally, and more than 70% believe it will shape their careers (Carnegie). Students are not waiting for institutions to adopt AI; they're already experimenting on their own. Meanwhile only 11% of private colleges report having an AI governance plan (RNL 2025). That gap is your opportunity. The first institutions to tell a credible AI story will own the narrative in their markets, while those who wait will look outdated.
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This playbook gives enrollment leaders a roadmap to move fast. Learn how to craft a story that is practical (what students actually do with AI), pervasive (AI across all majors, not siloed in computer science), and provable (assignments, projects, and employer validation). Our approach integrates research from RNL, EAB, and Carnegie with tactical plays you can execute in the next 60 days. The goal is simple: help your institution shift from talking about innovation in the abstract to showing students and families concrete evidence of how you are preparing them for the future.
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If you aren’t telling a clear AI story by now, you will be staring at irrelevance in the marketplace.
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Part 1: Crafting Your Story

Your AI story needs to pass 3 tests. It must be practical (show what students will actually do with AI), pervasive (AI isn't just for computer science, it's for all majors), and provable (back up your claims with assignments, projects, and employer validation).
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Here are the four key pillars to build your narrative around, backed by research and examples.

• 1. Career Outcomes
  
  • What you say: "Graduate fluent in AI for your field."
  • How you prove it: Go beyond a general claim. Show them a job posting for marketing roles that lists “AI tools experience required”.. Walk them through an internship project where one of your students used AI to solve a real problem. Better yet, show them the assignment from last semester where marketing students had to use AI to analyze consumer data
  • Why it works: EAB’s research shows that when families can connect what happens in the classroom to what happens after graduation, they’re way more likely to enroll. Campus visits that successfully connect academics to career outcomes see higher deposit conversions. When a career coach runs a quick AI prompt to find relevant job titles and searches live postings on LinkedIn, they can create a powerful and lasting impression.
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• 2. Innovation & Differentiation
  
  • What you say: "We're preparing students for tomorrow, not yesterday."
  • How you prove it: This is about signaling institutional relevance. Share the story of your history professor who’s having students use AI to transcribe Civil War letters. Talk about how your faculty spent their summer learning prompt engineering. Show them you’re thinking ahead, instead of catching up to a future that’s already here.
  • Why it works: Students can smell institutional irrelevance from a mile away. Carnegie’s data shows they use AI adoption as a proxy for whether a school “gets it” or not. You want to be the school that gets it.
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• 3. Accessibility & Affordability
  
  • What you say: "AI for all majors, no extra cost."
  • How you prove it: This directly addresses family concerns about value and return on investment. Show them how AI isn’t a $5,000 add-on program, and that instead, it’s infused into general education or existing degrees like business, health, or education, rather than being a separate, expensive program. This demonstrates that you are modernizing the entire curriculum to make all graduates more marketable.
  • Why it works: RNL's data consistently shows that families prioritize affordability paired with innovation. By framing AI as a standard part of the curriculum, you show that you are delivering a cutting-edge education without an added price tag.
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• 4. Human Voices
  
  • The One-Liner: "Real people, real projects."
  • The Proof: This is where your story becomes authentic. Capture short video clips of students demonstrating an AI project. Have faculty explain their philosophy on using AI in the classroom. Get a quote from a local employer or alum who talks about the importance of these skills.
  • The Research Tie: RNL's research highlights that personalized video and SMS are rising in effectiveness. Humanized content, whether a faculty explainer video or a student demo on social media, consistently wins over generic marketing copy.

Part 2: Your AI Marketing Playbook

Once you have your story pillars, you need to embed them into your marketing. This isn't about creating a separate AI campaign; it's about infusing AI messaging into your existing funnel.
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Funnel Plays: Cadences and Content

• Awareness → Inquiry
  
  • Tactics: Create a central "AI at [College]" hub on your website. Develop major-specific pages that show how AI is used within each discipline. Publish a blog post series answering common student questions like, "Will AI take my job?"
  • Cadence: Aim for 8-10 touches over 4-6 weeks for prospects.
  • Research Tie: RNL's benchmarks for private colleges suggest a 10-touch cadence is standard for the prospect stage.
• Inquiry → Applicant
  
  • Tactics: Send personalized video invitations to a virtual or in-person "AI Across the Curriculum" demo. Use SMS to share short, human-focused content, like a link to a student's project.
  • Cadence: 10-16 touches during this stage.
  • Research Tie: Personalized video is ranked as a highly effective tool for pushing students from inquiry to applicant, a finding supported by RNL's 2025 data.
• Applicant → Admit → Deposit
  
  • Tactics: Host an "Your AI Toolkit" webinar for admitted students, featuring faculty and students. Use a peer-to-peer Discord or group chat to share micro-assignments, like, "Try using this AI tool to write your college packing list."
  • Cadence: 12-16 touches during the admit stage, followed by 6-12 post-deposit.
  • Research Tie: EAB data shows that virtual tours can double the rate of deposits (28% from 16%). A well-executed AI demo during a virtual visit can replicate this conversion effect by making the experience tangible and unique, and infusing it in the campus visit will similarly provide lasting impact.
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Channel Mix

• Email: Still a core channel. Keep emails short and focused with a single call to action. RNL data confirms 55% of students check email multiple times daily.
• SMS: Underused but highly effective. RNL data shows most colleges stop after fewer than 5 attempts. Use persistence with varied messaging to recover yield and push engagement.
• Personalized Video: A high-impact channel for key conversion moments. Tools like Vidyard or Loom can be used to send quick, one-to-one videos.
• Chatbots: 84% of Gen Z have used them during their college search (RNL 2024). Ensure your bot is trained on the top 20 questions about your AI programs and policies.
• Parents: Create a dedicated landing page and newsletter. Direct communication to parents is still a top strategy, with 98% of private colleges using email and 90% using direct mail for parent communications (RNL 2025).
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Part 3: Live Action: The Campus Visit Script

The campus visit is a decisive moment for most families. Here's a sample script to make your AI story tangible.

• Opening (Admissions Counselor): "Today, we're not just going to talk about majors. We're going to show you how AI shows up in every single one of them. For example, did you know that in our art history program, students are using AI to analyze patterns in centuries-old paintings?"
• The Demo (Faculty or Student): Move to a faculty member or student who is prepared to run a quick, impactful demo.
  
  • Prompt: "Let's say you're a communications major. Here's a real assignment: write a press release for a new product launch. We'll use this AI tool to generate a first draft, but then we'll critique it for accuracy and tone. This isn't about replacing human creativity; it's about amplifying it."
• The Career Link (Career Coach): A career coach can then tie the demo to a real-world application. "That skill—using AI to quickly draft and edit—is what employers in PR and marketing are looking for. It's a key part of your toolkit."
• The Takeaway: End with a clear call to action. "You can try this for yourself. Scan this QR code to get to our 'AI at [College]' page, where you'll find a micro-assignment that you can do on your own."
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Part 4: Your 60-Day Rollout Plan

This is an agile plan to get your AI story into the market quickly.

• Weeks 1-2: Story & Infrastructure.
  
  • Establish your core AI messaging based on the four pillars.
  • Build the "AI at [College]" hub and at least two major-specific pages.
  • Collect 5-10 student quotes and project examples.
• Weeks 3-4: Content Creation.
  
  • Record 5-7 short video clips (1-2 minutes) from students and faculty.
  • Publish 3-4 blog posts answering common questions.
  • Host your first live or virtual AI demo.
• Weeks 5-6: Marketing Integration.
  
  • Integrate personalized video into your inquiry-to-applicant communication.
  • Add AI messaging and a new CTA to your SMS persistence campaign.
  • Launch a parent-focused AI newsletter.
• Weeks 7-8: Measurement & Optimization.
  
  • Integrate the campus visit-day demo into your weekly schedule.
  • Review key performance indicators (KPIs) to link AI content to inquiries, event RSVPs, and deposits.
  • Adjust your communication cadence and messaging based on the data.
• Week 8-12: Develop your AI Governance plan both from an enrollment lens and a wider institutional lens.

Case Studies: What "Good" Looks Like

As you work to build your own AI story, it's helpful to see what success looks like "in the wild." Here are a few examples of how colleges are moving beyond talk to create a verifiable AI narrative.

• Private Institution in Illinois: Integrating AI into Admissions Communications
  
  • A private institution in Illinois is using a vendor like EnrollML to go beyond basic automation. They've built a system that personalizes admissions communications based on a prospect's interest in AI, positioning the school's AI literacy as a key differentiator from the first touchpoint. Their use of AI isn't just operational; it's a core part of their enrollment narrative, giving families confidence that this school is a modern and responsive institution.
• Rize Partner Institution in North Carolina: Modernizing Services and Storytelling
  
  • By working with a partner like Edulla, one Rize partner is simultaneously modernizing student support services and their academic messaging. The school uses AI to enhance advising and career counseling, then weaves that collaboration into its marketing language. This creates a holistic AI story that shows families their investment extends beyond the classroom and into every aspect of student success.
• Visionary Example: The Five-Minute Campus Visit Demo
  
  • Imagine a college has integrated a live, five-minute AI demo into every campus visit. Prospects don't just hear about innovation—they see it live, critique it, and then connect it to internship opportunities. This tight link between academics and career outcomes makes the abstract concept of "future-proofing a degree" tangible, directly driving yield and setting them apart from competitors.
• Visionary Example: The Full-Funnel AI Narrative
  
  • The future of AI storytelling won't be a single tactic—it will be a comprehensive strategy. Imagine a regional college where nursing students use AI to simulate patient care plans, business students use AI to run real-time market scans, and history students use AI to analyze primary sources. The institution captures these projects on video, shares them through student-led TikTok and Instagram campaigns, and equips admissions counselors with "AI story kits" for campus tours. Families leave visits seeing not just degrees, but future-proof careers. This is where the market is heading, and the first movers will define the standard.