Each summer, Carnegie surveys thousands of students and parents to better understand what drives college decision-making. This year’s Summer Research Series is built around responses from more than 3,400 prospective students and parents, offering insights across four key themes: politics and college perceptions, college choice trends, the role of AI in admissions, and personality-driven communication.
For the second entry in Carnegie’s Summer Research Series, we analyzed responses from our May 2025 survey of more than 3,400 prospective students and parents. This report explores how families approach the college decision-making process—from how they search for information to what influences their choices, including the role of social media, content trust, and perceptions of influencers.
This year, the full report includes an online data appendix with breakouts across 40 respondent categories based on demographics, 3 different audiences, and 11 institutional types. The breakouts allow for data that can be used for segmenting strategic approaches and communications in higher education, enabling more authentic and effective engagement.
College Applications and Acceptance Rates
The number of completed college applications and acceptance rates has remained relatively stable over the last three years Carnegie has run this survey.
In 2023, the number of applications submitted by graduating seniors averaged 7.48. That dipped slightly in 2024 to 7.33, then rose again in 2025 to 7.68.
Similarly, acceptance rates also remained relatively stagnant. In 2023, acceptance rates among respondents were 74%, and 77% in 2024.
In this year’s report, students were accepted to 77% of the schools they applied to, giving them between 5–6 college acceptances to choose from on average.
Some groups reported even higher acceptance rates. Students from rural areas averaged 87%, those identifying as Christian averaged 82%, and students with strongly conservative political views reported a 91% acceptance rate. Interestingly, high-achieving students (GPA 4.0 or above) had an acceptance rate of 75%, closely aligned with the overall average.
Despite the consistency in college applications and acceptances, there is encouraging news on the enrollment front. The National Student Clearinghouse recently released its Spring 2025 postsecondary enrollment data, showing that undergraduate enrollment rose 3.5% compared to last year. While still below pre-pandemic levels, enrollment is expected to continue trending upward.
College Selection Factors and Information-Seeking
Out of 36 different factors to choose from, scholarships and financial aid once again ranked as the most important, with 51% of graduating seniors selecting it as a key consideration when choosing a college. This was followed by tuition price (46%), degree options (45%), location (33%), and campus feel (28%), indicating that finances remain top of mind for students making college decisions.
Compared to 2023 and 2024, degree options, campus feel, teaching quality, and campus safety all saw slight declines in importance.
When comparing across audiences, rising students rated the importance of scholarships/aid, tuition, and degree options even higher than graduating seniors, at 56%, 51%, and 55%, respectively. Despite agreement on these top three factors, graduating seniors placed more importance on location, cost of living, and job placement than rising students in the next tier of priorities.
In addition to selecting the most important factors in their college decision-making process, audiences were also asked where they sought out information about colleges. Graduating seniors reported college websites as their top source (64%), followed by general search (49%) and family (45%).
When compared to the previous year, the most notable increases among graduating seniors were in the use of email (+13%), mail/publications (+10%), and student/alumni sources (+7%).
Out of the three audiences included in the study, parents reported using fewer sources of information overall. However, they reported slightly higher engagement with college fairs (42%) and virtual information sessions (21%) compared to the student audiences.
Media Use Trends and Trust in Social Media
When asked about the media platforms they use regularly, graduating seniors named email as their top platform in 2025. Not only did email lead overall usage, but it also increased by 15% compared to previous years.
Instagram and Google Search followed closely behind, each used by 71% of graduating seniors. While Instagram saw a 5% decrease in usage from 2024, other platforms saw notable gains. YouTube usage increased by 9%, music streaming by 13%, and AI tools also rose by 13%.
Conversely, TikTok and Snapchat saw significant declines. Usage of TikTok dropped by 24%, and Snapchat by 19% compared to 2024 levels.
Trust in media overall has rebounded in 2025, though some interesting differences emerged across audiences, particularly among rising students, who reported both the highest and lowest trust scores.
Respondents rated their trust on a 6-point scale, with 1 being no trust at all and 6 being complete trust. For both institutional and user-generated content on social media, graduating seniors reported the highest trust levels: 3.3 for institutional content (with 41% choosing the two highest options), and 3.48 for user content (with 51% choosing the two highest options).
Parents scored the lowest on average, but their overall level of “some trust” in both content types exceeded that of graduating seniors and rising students.
Importantly, last year’s report revealed a notable gap between trust in institutional content and user-generated content over a five-year period. This year, trust in institutional content has not only recovered but surpassed 2023 levels, while trust in user content dipped slightly.
Social Media Influencers
New to the 2025 report, Carnegie asked audiences whether they follow any social media influencers, and what they like or dislike about them.
Institutions may find it noteworthy that 19% of graduating seniors and 24% of rising students reported following college-specific influencers. Nearly half of both groups said they follow some type of influencer. While parents were generally less likely to follow influencers, a surprising 34% answered yes.
Influencers are a prominent part of the social media landscape. And while many respondents follow them, there’s still skepticism, particularly around their intentions. In our qualitative analysis, authenticity came up repeatedly as something respondents value.
Audiences expressed frustration with overpromotion and negativity. Based on these results, institutions considering influencer partnerships should prioritize authenticity and focus on higher education marketing strategies that reflect real experiences.
Stay Informed All Summer Long
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