Community College Outreach in 2025: What’s Driving Enrollment and What Isn’t

Across the country, community colleges are expanding access, flexibility, and career-aligned programming. Yet despite these efforts, enrollment remains below pre-pandemic levels,  and traditional outreach methods are no longer sufficient.
This white paper examines the growing role of marketing in community college enrollment strategy, offering a data-driven look at what’s working, what’s not, and how community colleges can adapt.

• Key trends shaping student decision-making in 2025
• Case studies from colleges seeing measurable ROI from targeted outreach
• Common pitfalls in messaging, and how to avoid them
• Practical strategies for engaging adult learners, first-gen students, and multilingual communities

• An understanding of how marketing spend correlates with enrollment performance
• Recommendations for aligning messaging with program value and student needs
• Insight into how small-scale campaigns can yield a significant impact

Whether your institution is refining its brand, launching new offerings, or working to re-engage past applicants, this report provides a grounded, evidence-based framework to inform your next move.