Higher Education Marketing and Enrollment Strategy

A Yield-Focused Student Search

Carnegie has redesigned and redefined Student Search. Our Student Search model is counter to the traditional high-cost, high-volume, low-conversion Student Search of the past. We build Student Search on the student’s terms: when they are ready, where they want to connect, and with messaging that speaks directly to who they are as individuals. With yield as our ultimate measure of success, we focus on increasing engagement and conversions at each stage in the enrollment journey, from prospect to deposited student.

We’ve curated a list of enrollment management resources that will help you get the most out of your Student Search. Access our Student Search toolkit for tips, tricks, and strategies from lead generation to advanced segmentation to personalized web experiences.


  • We’ll help you identify, source, and cultivate students who have a greater propensity to take action. Your lead sourcing strategy will leverage market research and source analysis to ensure your prospects are diversified and have high-yield potential. This strategy will serve as the foundation of your entire Student Search effort, which will focus on yield from the start.

  • Marrying demographic and psychographic data, we create smart and strategic segmentation, primed for Student Search communications that generate human connection and lay the foundation for future retention efforts.

  • We'll deliver the right message to your Student Search audience at precisely the right time. You'll be supported by a team with unparalleled experience who will work directly in your campaigns to optimize performance. Your Student Search campaigns will be agile, personalized, and fully supported.

  • We give you the data that you crave, real-time reporting, and expert analysis so your Student Search execution is agile. We provide full funnel data for year-over-year reporting, as well as real-time campaign performance. Our team of marketing and communications experts works directly in your campaigns, tracking performance and delivering insights to optimize your efforts.

  • We combine behavioral data, geodemographic information, and Carneige proprietary metrics to deliver highly predictive engagement scores. These scores tell you exactly who is interested in your institution and which students have the greatest propensity to take action. Starting with EnGauge Apply Score, we will make strategic choices that will maximize your entire recruitment effort.

  • We support the full enrollment journey, aiding your enrollment aspirations by increasing engagement and conversions and ultimately yielding your class. To support your enrollment strategy, we deploy yield tools that increase your chances of being chosen and set you up for retention success.

About Carnegie’s Student Search

Our vision is to offer higher education a Student Search solution that is purpose-built to address the current landscape. The industry has fundamentally changed since the introduction of enrollment management in 1976, and even more since the popularization of current-day tactics—Student Search has to change with the landscape.

Fewer college-going students, decreasing access to student names, data privacy and legislation, new tools and technology, and the change in behaviors and expectations of students are the pressures driving change. Carnegie is delivering a yield-focused solution designed to solve the challenges clients are facing today.

  • Our model is a lower volume, higher conversion approach that is hyper-focused on capturing attention, generating affinity, and applying precise strategies to increase yield.
  • We leverage human connection (a core Carnegie philosophy) tangibly, by using psychometric data (motivations,
    attitudes, and beliefs) to personalize and segment our communication efforts.
  • Our approach is bookended by strategies that gather rich data to ensure smart resource allocation, from the names purchased to the aid offered to each student.
  • We offer precise targeting and diversified digital marketing strategies to meet students where they are.
  • We offer a fully supported Slate CRM execution which provides clients with data transparency and control of their Student Search.

About Carnegie

For more than 35 years, Carnegie has been a leader and innovator in higher education marketing and enrollment strategy, offering groundbreaking services in the areas of Research, Strategy, Digital Marketing, Lead Generation, Slate Optimization, Student Search, Website Development, and Creative that generate authentic connections.

We connect colleges with students through the power of human connection. We believe that genuine connection is the key to capturing attention and building affinity. Our core philosophy fuses the principles of human psychology with marketing and enrollment innovation; we measure and then market to a student’s unique behaviors and motivators to create deep connection and real conversation. This leads to action, enrollment, retention, and lasting affinity.