Enrollment is flat-ish, but student needs aren’t.
That’s the clearest takeaway from the National Student Clearinghouse’s Spring 2025 enrollment update. While national headcounts are holding relatively steady, the picture beneath the surface tells a more urgent story.
Some institutions are seeing modest gains. Others are facing steep declines, especially in regional and rural areas. But across the board, one truth holds: academic preparedness gaps persist, and student expectations for support continue to grow.
Campus leaders are confronting a difficult equation. Resources remain tight. Student needs are rising. And the urgency to act has never been greater.
This fall, broad strategies won't be enough. Institutions need focused plays that deliver fast, flexible support, right now.
Here are three ways to get started.
1. Turn on Peer Tutoring Where Demand Spikes
Start with the data. Identify courses where the median grade is below a C.
These aren’t just hard classes. They are critical inflection points. When students struggle early and don’t get help, the consequences are significant. GPA drops. Confidence falters. Stop-out risk increases.
Targeting peer tutoring to these courses allows institutions to deploy support with precision. It empowers successful students to guide their peers. And it helps normalize help-seeking at the moments when it matters most.
This isn’t about launching a new center or hiring more staff. It’s about activating the people and insights already on campus.
2. Make “Time-to-Help” Your North Star
Most campuses track total tutoring sessions or the number of students served. These are useful metrics, but they don’t reflect the student experience in real time.
Time-to-help does.
How long does it take a student to go from struggling in class to receiving meaningful support?
Reducing this time window changes everything. When help comes quickly, students feel supported. They gain clarity. And they stay on track.
To move from days to hours, institutions can revisit onboarding flows, offer more peer-led drop-ins, and reduce steps between a student raising their hand and getting the help they need.
Support delayed is often support denied.
3. Build AI-Assisted, Human-Delivered Study Plans
AI can be a powerful starting point, but it cannot replace human connection.
Imagine a student generating a draft study plan with AI. That plan becomes a launchpad. A peer tutor then steps in to personalize it, adapt it to the course schedule, and talk through how to follow it effectively.
This approach combines speed with support. It helps students get oriented faster, without losing the relational guidance that makes tutoring so impactful.
Efficiency and empathy are not in conflict. They can and should work together.
Final Takeaway
If you lead student success, ask this one question as the semester begins: What is our fastest lever to shrink time-to-help?
Looking for examples of how other campuses are answering that question? See how Knack is helping institutions deliver peer-led support faster and more flexibly.
