How Does AI Solve Pain Points of the Traditional Enrollment Process?

Traditional enrollment involves a lot of paperwork, manual reviews, and slow communication, making the process inefficient and time-consuming for admissions teams. With the global AI market expected to grow from $177 billion in 2023 to $2,745 billion by 2033, AI is now helping to change this by automating tasks, speeding up response times, and improving student engagement.

• AI saves admission teams up to 12 hours a week by handling tasks like document processing and inquiries. This allows them to focus on student engagement, and improving enrollment strategies.
• Bakersfield College used an AI chatbot, leading to a 30% decrease in support calls and emails, saving approximately $2 million in resources.
• AI-powered admission systems have boosted conversion rates from 3% to 7-8% in U.S. and U.K. institutions. By automating processes and personalizing outreach, AI improves enrollment and resource use.

Key Ways AI Enhances Enrollment

AI helps universities process applications faster, connect with students more effectively, and provide instant support. It also predicts enrollment trends and reduces dropout rates, making admissions smoother and more efficient.

Faster Application Processing

Pain Point: Traditional application processing takes too long due to paperwork and manual reviews. This delays admission decisions and increases workload.

AI Solution: AI speeds up the process by automating document checks, eligibility verification, and data entry. It reads and verifies documents while machine learning quickly reviews applications. A recent survey shows 93% of education professionals plan to expand AI use, and AI tools can cut manual work by 40%. With Edmo’s Document Intelligence, universities can reduce manual effort by 40%, streamline workflows, and make faster, data-driven admission decisions.

Better Student Outreach and Engagement

Pain Point: General marketing campaigns don’t always reach the right students, leading to low interest and fewer enrollments. Universities struggle to find and connect with the best-fit students.

AI Solution: AI evaluates past data to find ideal student profiles and sends them personalized messages and scholarship offers. AI chatbots also provide instant responses to student queries. The University of Oklahoma used AI to study two years of data and achieved 89-92% accuracy in identifying potential students. This helped them attract the largest and most academically prepared class, making outreach more effective.

24/7 Support with AI Chatbots

Pain Point: Students often wait days for answers about courses, scholarships, and deadlines due to limited staff availability. This delay can cause frustration and affect their decisions.

AI Solution: AI chatbots make enrollment easier by answering student questions instantly, 24/7. They manage high volumes of queries, easing staff workload and making information more accessible. The University of Murcia in Spain introduced “Lola,” an AI chatbot that interacted with 4,609 students. It successfully answered 38,708 questions with 91% accuracy, ensuring students received help even outside office hours. With Edmo’s Conversation Intelligence, universities can achieve inquiry response times under 1 minute and increase application-to-enrollment rates by 5% for a smoother admission experience.

Reducing Dropout Rates with Predictive Analytics

Pain Point: Many students face academic, financial, or support challenges, causing them to drop out. Identifying and assisting at-risk students on time is a major challenge.

AI Solution: AI evaluates student performance and engagement to spot those at risk of dropping out. Universities can then provide support, such as extra tutoring or financial guidance. NSU used AI to predict dropout risks by studying student data. In just 15 days, this helped improve first-year student retention by 17%, ensuring more students stayed in their courses and completed their studies. 

Improving Enrollment Forecasting and Decision-Making

Pain Point: Universities struggle to predict enrollment trends, leading to resource mismanagement and admission challenges.

AI Solution: AI evaluates past enrollment data to predict future trends, helping universities make better decisions. This improves admissions planning, resource allocation, and student retention.  Texas Tech University used AI forecasting to exceed its 40,000-student enrollment goal. The university grew by 9% in three years and improved retention by 2.6%. AI-powered insights make planning more accurate and efficient.

Conclusion

AI is changing the traditional enrollment process by making it faster, smarter, and more student-friendly. From automating administrative tasks to personalizing student engagement, AI is shaping the future of higher education enrollment. EDMO, trusted by 200+ global institutions, offers the only CRM-integrated AI solution designed specifically for student enrollment, wherein universities can simplify processes, boost efficiency, and improve student enrollment like never before.

WRITTEN BY

Aastha Aarya

Sr. Content Writer

Aastha Arya is a Senior Content Writer at EDMO who writes about topics covering education technology, AI, and case studies pertaining to the higher education sector. She has a 4-year of experience in this field and also likes to delve deeper into the role of AI tools empowering universities by automating high-priority tasks such as document review, processing, responses to student queries, etc.

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