For years, higher education recruitment has largely followed the same strategy: wait until high school seniors begin their college search, then market directly to them. But if we’re serious about creating a more inclusive and diverse student body, it’s time to flip the funnel—and start earlier in the process, long before students are making decisions about where to apply.

The Problem: Waiting Too Long to Engage

By the time many institutions begin actively recruiting high school seniors, the deck has already been stacked. Barriers to higher education—like limited access to academic resources, guidance, and career exposure—have already shaped the pool of applicants. If we continue focusing on recruitment only in senior year, we’re missing out on the opportunity to reach talented, diverse students much earlier in their academic journey.

The key is to be smarter and more proactive about how and when you engage potential applicants. Instead of waiting for students to discover your institution, lay the groundwork earlier—through intentional outreach, technology, and storytelling.

The Shift: Tangible Steps to Engage Earlier and Broaden Your Pool

1. Partner with Middle and High Schools

• What to do: Build lasting partnerships with schools that serve underrepresented communities. Offer early college awareness programming, Q&A sessions with admissions staff, and resources tailored to younger students.
  
  
• Why it works: Students who see college as a realistic option earlier in life are more likely to prepare for it—and apply—especially when they see your institution as accessible and invested in their success.
  
  

2. Leverage Tech to Showcase Representation

• What to do: Use your digital platforms—website, social media, email campaigns, virtual tours, and content marketing—to authentically showcase student voices, lived experiences, and diversity across your campus community.
  
  
• Why it works: Representation matters. Students want to see people who look like them, come from similar backgrounds, and are thriving at your institution. Done right, digital storytelling can scale that impact and reach students earlier in their academic journey.
  

3. Engage Families as Early Partners

• What to do: Extend outreach efforts to families, especially in communities where college attendance is not a given. Use accessible technology— webinars, multi-language videos—to inform and involve families in the process.
  
  
• Why it works: Students don't make college decisions in isolation. Families often play a major role, and early trust-building with them strengthens a student’s likelihood of applying and persisting.
  

The Opportunity: Build Smarter, More Inclusive Pathways

By starting earlier and using tools already at your disposal, your institution can:

• Expand your applicant pool by reaching students who might otherwise never see college as an option.
  
  
• Build trust with students and families over time, rather than through one-off touchpoints.
  
  
• Create an inclusive brand story that students can see themselves in—long before they click “apply.”
  

The future of recruitment isn’t about fighting for attention at the eleventh hour—it’s about meeting students where they are, early, with the right message and tools.

The Bottom Line

If you want a more diverse and prepared applicant pool, don’t wait for them to come to you. Flip the funnel. Start earlier, be more intentional, and use the tech and partnerships already within reach to meet students upstream.

Because by the time you’re recruiting seniors, the work should already be well underway.

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