07/09/2026
The largest high school graduating class in U.S. history walked the stage in 2025.
From here, the numbers only fall.
Graduates are projected to decline 13% through 2041, according to WICHE — with the steepest drops in the West, Northeast, and Midwest. That's the enrollment reality you're choosing software for right now.
At the same time, the higher-ed CRM market is on track to grow from $6.27B to $19.19B by 2035. More vendors. More feature checklists. More noise aimed squarely at your budget.
Here's the problem: most of those platforms were built for large universities and scaled down. 75% of institutions rank enrollment management as a top tech priority — which means you're competing for tools designed for schools ten times your size.
Five features that actually move enrollment for a small-to-mid institution:
→ A native mobile experience (not a website that shrinks)
→ Financial aid inside the platform, not bolted on
→ Early-alert retention built into the workflow
→ Fit for your team's actual capacity
→ A go-live measured in weeks, not quarters
If you're mid-search — or mid-migration — this is the shortlist filter.
