The New Playbook for Enrollment
The Signal Solution
How Smart Colleges Stop Chasing Applications and Start Converting Students
The New Playbook for Enrollment
How Smart Colleges Stop Chasing Applications and Start Converting Students
Higher ed enrollment is in a Category 5 collision — and the old enrollment playbook won't save you.
Drawn from decades in enrollment leadership and over four years of applying advanced AI in admissions, The Signal Solution exposes how shrinking demographics, an application surge that distorts intent, credible non-degree alternatives, persistent ROI skepticism, and a personalization mandate are rewriting the rules of student recruitment.
This new enrollment playbook, grounded in consumer decision science, shifts the focus from chasing volume to reading and responding to real behavioral signals. It equips institutions to identify the movable middle — the already-admitted but undecided students most likely to enroll — and align the entire campus around behavior-driven decisions that transform yield from a frantic spring "push" into a disciplined, year-round system.
For trustees, presidents, CFOs, provosts, cabinet members, and enrollment leaders at institutions of all shapes and sizes, this book serves as a blueprint for building an enrollment operation that is more precise, more efficient, and more human.
"The Signal Solution isn't the enrollment playbook that's going to reinforce all you know... It's a must read for all enrollment and marketing practitioners."
"If you work in admissions, marketing, or higher ed leadership — or simply want to understand why 'doing more' is no longer enough — this book will challenge your assumptions and offer a new map for the storm ahead."
"I've read a lot of books that describe the problem. The Signal Solution is one of the few that actually delivers a path forward... This is a must read."
"This book is a terrific read for everyone in higher education... that challenges longstanding industry beliefs about how, when and what tools to use, and invites the reader to carefully consider how to interpret student behaviors to achieve enrollment goals."
Identify and act on the movable middle — fewer, more winnable students, rather than spraying effort across everyone.
The five forces reshaping enrollment aren't new, but their concurrent collision is. Understand the storm you're actually in.
FAFSA "yes/no," visits, and generic engagement scores calm the room but often mislead. Look for behavioral sequencing and momentum instead.
Students move from rational checks → emotional fit → rational completion. The subjective middle is where yield is actually won.
Build a system that surfaces drift early and prioritizes action all year — not just in April.
Meet students with human outreach at the precise moment their behavior peaks — think "TikTok effect," not drip sequence.
Marketing, academics, finance, and admissions operate from the same signal map and outcomes narrative.
Give counselors better signals so they can personalize fewer, higher-leverage conversations.
Love the book, but need help putting it into action? We offer intensive, institution-specific workshops designed to align your team on a signal-driven enrollment strategy.
Equip your front-line team with skills to spot high-yield signals and deliver timely, personalized outreach.
Give enrollment leaders a framework to integrate signal-based decision-making into daily operations.
Engage presidents, provosts, and cabinet members in strategic sessions connecting enrollment signals to institutional priorities.