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PH1 core capbility
YEARS EXPERIENCE
9 to 10 years
TYPICAL CLIENT
VP External Relations, VP Enrolment Management, Director of Digital, Director of Recruitment & Admissions, CMO
NECESSARY TIMELINE
2 to 3 months
BUDGET NECESSARY
Up to $50,000
Our POV
Most universities and colleges find out their applicant experience is underperforming in the worst possible way: an enrollment decline that takes two cycles to explain, a competitor suddenly winning the students they used to retain by default, or an internal satisfaction score that has been telling leadership everything is fine while the funnel has been quietly leaking.
The data to see this coming exists in almost every institution — application analytics, CRM conversion rates, website behavioral data, admissions counselor observations, competitor marketing. The problem is not that the data does not exist. It is that no one has assembled it into a picture that makes the gaps undeniable and the priorities clear.
Benchmarking in higher education is not a survey exercise. It is the work of comparing what your applicants actually experience — at the moments that drive applications, registrations, and retention — against what they now expect, what peer institutions are delivering, and what AI-native alternatives are making possible. Most institutions are surprised by what they find. The gaps they knew about are not always the ones costing the most. The sources their applicants consult before deciding are not always the ones being tracked.
What We Do
We evaluate your applicant experience and website against three benchmarks simultaneously: peer institutions delivering similar programs to overlapping applicant pools; the AI-native consumer experiences your applicants use daily as their reference point for what a good digital experience looks like; and the expectations of the specific applicant segments most critical to your enrollment goals.
The evaluation concentrates on the highest-intent moments — the pages and interactions where applicants are deciding whether to continue, apply, or abandon — rather than a random sample of touchpoints. We combine structured evaluation of your digital experience, desk research on competitor positioning and digital performance, and a review of how your institution is described by AI assistants, ranking sites, and peer review platforms.
What We'll Deliver
Applicant experience benchmark scorecard against peer institutions and AI-native reference experiences
Identified performance gaps at the interactions most critical to applications and registrations
Competitive analysis of how peer institutions are addressing the same applicant expectations
AI and third-party representation audit: how AI assistants, ranking sites, and peer forums describe your institution versus reality
Prioritized improvement opportunities ranked by applicant impact and conversion relevance
Executive summary for leadership and board reporting
Recommended next steps with clear connection to measurable enrollment outcomes
When This is Essential
Before committing budget to a website redesign, AI initiative, or digital transformation program
When application volume or conversion is declining and internal data alone cannot explain why
When the institution is planning a program expansion, a new market entry, or a repositioning of its competitive offer
When leadership needs evidence — not internal assumptions — to fund the next round of digital investment
When a competitor or online-first program is visibly winning students your institution used to retain
Frequently Asked Questions
How is this different from the enrollment analytics we already track?
Internal enrollment analytics measure what happened in your funnel — applications received, offers made, registrations completed. Benchmarking measures why applicants made the decisions they did, how your experience compares to the alternatives they were evaluating, and where the gap between your current experience and applicant expectations is most directly affecting the numbers you track. The two are complementary, not substitutes.
What peer institutions do you benchmark against?
We work with your leadership to define the competitive set — typically the four to six institutions your applicants most commonly consider alongside yours, plus one or two programs from adjacent or online-first providers entering the same applicant pool. Where the competitive set is unclear, we help define it as part of the engagement.
Do you evaluate the full website or just the admissions section?
We concentrate on the highest-intent interactions: program pages, cost and financial aid content, admissions requirements, student life content, and the application flow itself. We expand scope to additional sections if prior data or applicant research suggests they are relevant to conversion.
How quickly can we get results?
A focused benchmark engagement runs four to six weeks from kickoff to final deliverables. If the institution needs faster preliminary findings for an upcoming board or leadership meeting, we can structure the engagement to deliver a high-priority snapshot in two to three weeks with the full report following.
What happens after the benchmark?
The benchmark is designed to make the next decision clear. Most institutions use it to fund one or more of: a journey mapping engagement to understand the behavioral causes behind the identified gaps; an architecture and search strategy to address information findability; or a prototyping engagement to validate improvements to the highest-priority gaps before committing to build.
Combine With These Services
Applicant & Student Journey Mapping Research — take benchmark findings into deep behavioral research that explains the causes
Website Architecture & Search Modernization Strategy — address the information findability gaps the benchmark identifies
Website Improvement Prototyping & Testing — validate improvements to the highest-priority gaps before committing budget
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