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Artificial intelligence is changing the way students weigh their educational options. Many are looking more closely at programs that give them a reliable way into early-career roles. The 2025 enrollment patterns show a noticeable shift in student priorities where they are choosing programs that are clearer, more relevant, and faster to complete.

On Tuesday, the National Student Clearinghouse released its Preliminary Fall 2025 Enrollment Trends Report, representing roughly half of all higher education institutions nationwide. The report shows total undergraduate enrollment increasing by 2.4 percent, marking another year of steady, modest growth and suggesting that overall enrollment is stabilizing.

Beneath that headline, however, the data reveals a meaningful shift in where and how students are enrolling. Learners are increasingly prioritizing flexibility, affordability, and speed to credential over institutional prestige.

If you follow our blogs or attend our webinars, you may have noticed that we're been doing a lot with artificial intelligence recently to drive value out of the student onboarding and student compliance processes.  I'll have to admit that until recently, my experience with AI had been driven by my data warehousing role at PeopleSoft in the 1990's. 

Here is how things have changed since then.

Yesterday, President Trump issued "Improving Education Outcomes by Empowering Parents, States, and Communities" which describes how the executive branch intends to move functions of the department of education elsewhere.  Many Financial Aid professionals still have PTSD as it relates to the rollout of the new FAFSA in 2023 (which contributed to a 9% decline in overall enrollment).  Are we on track for something similar in the next academic year?

With today's focus on compliance and government efficiency, we expect there to be a high level of scrutiny on financial aid processes and personnel costs at public higher education institutions.  As such, we have identified 4 efficiency initiatives that institutions can kick-off to be ready.

One of the impacts expected in the higher education industry as it relates to the Florida DOGE taskforce is a high level of scrutiny on any and all spending at public higher education institutions.  Anything that doesn't support DOGE goals will most likely get cut.

On February 24, 2025, Florida Governor, Ron Desantis, issued an executive order establishing a Florida version of the DOGE task force.  As this is the first DOGE initiative specifically focused on education institutions, and because Mutara works closely with several institutions that fall under it's purview, I thought I'd provide my analysis.

On Inauguration Day, Donald Trump signed an executive order titled "Protecting the meaning and value of American Citizenship."  This executive order focused on the issue of the meaning of birthright citizenship as described in the 14th Amendment.  In the future, complying with this policy would have significant impact on the processes of admitting all students at higher education institutions.

Welcome to 2025!  It's a new year with a new administration coming in the next few weeks.  The past several years have seen a dramatic series of changes (and challenges) in the higher education industry.  Here are our 5 predictions for the coming year.