Benchmark report

The 2026 Higher Education Performance Benchmarks Report

Signal, speed, and the new enrollment playbook. Benchmarks from more than $100 million in managed higher education media, paired with admissions data from LeadSquared.

See where enrollment marketing performance stands in 2026 and where the gaps are costing enrollments.

$83M+ in 2025 media spend behind every media benchmark
800,000+ leads and 54,000+ enrollments analyzed
Admissions data spanning 118 programs across six sectors
Built with LeadSquared, the CRM platform for higher ed admissions

+167%

Branded search impressions grew 167% year over year while CTR fell 62%. Students see the listing, take the AI answer, and keep researching.

83%

Share of education queries that now trigger a Google AI Overview, up from 18% the year before.

3.1x

Search leads enroll at 7.99%. PMax leads enroll at 2.58%. CPL and cost per enrollment tell two different budget stories.

+391%

Conversion effectiveness when institutions respond to an inquiry in under one minute. After ten minutes, conversion drops 40%.

Sources: Level Agency Higher Education Benchmark Data, 2026; ALM Corp; Gitnux via LeadSquared.

The problem

You are paying more to enroll fewer students

Last year, getting a prospective student to inquire cost 15 percent more than the year before. Getting one to actually enroll cost 23 percent more. When the cost to enroll rises faster than the cost to inquire, the funnel is leaking somewhere after the form fill. You are paying more for interest and converting less of it.

The student creating that math has changed. Before they ever reach your inquiry form, they have asked ChatGPT to compare programs in their area, checked tuition on aggregator sites, and read Reddit threads from current students. By the time they raise their hand, they already hold a shortlist you never influenced and opinions your admissions team has to work around on the first call.

Most enrollment marketing still runs as if that research has not happened yet. This report measures how wide the gap has grown and shows what the institutions closing it do differently.

Inside the report

Seven themes built on benchmark data and specific action items

Every theme follows the same structure: benchmark data from the portfolio, evidence from live campaigns and admissions operations, and action items you can take straight to your team.

The media benchmarks cover CPL, cost per enrollment, and lead-to-enrollment rate by channel and program category. The admissions benchmarks cover speed-to-lead, counselor performance, and inquiry source mix. Together they map the full path from first impression to enrolled student.

Every theme closes with the numbers and action items worth taking to leadership.

1Measurement evolutionWhy last-click attribution misleads, and what to measure instead

2AI search and zero-click disruptionWhere students research before they ever reach your site

3Signal quality as a competitive moatHow to feed platforms enrollment-weighted signal

4Creative volume and diversityWhy creative now does the targeting on Meta and TikTok

5Program demand shiftsWhich programs are growing, which are declining, and why

6The new prospective studentHow student behavior changed and what your inquiry process needs to reflect

7Organizational alignmentWhy most institutions stall and what the ones that succeed share