TORONTO, March 11, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Acuity Insights, the leading provider of admissions assessment, program management, and analytics solutions for higher education, has released its much-anticipated 2025 University and College Admissions Trends Report informed by a survey of 160 admissions leaders and offering in-depth insights into the evolving landscape of higher education admissions.
“With shifting enrollment patterns, increased use of AI in both application review and student submissions, and ongoing changes in funding and policy, institutions must rethink traditional approaches to recruitment and admissions,” says Matt Holland, CEO at Acuity Insights. “We found 57% of admissions professionals increasing their emphasis on personal qualities and life experiences, and it’s clear that holistic review practices in admissions are seeing rapid adoption. Our 2025 Trends Report provides a roadmap for admissions teams looking to adapt and thrive in this changing environment.”
Key Findings from the 2025 Admissions Trends Report:
The report includes insights from a survey of 160 admissions leaders across the United States, the UK, Canada, and Australia. Respondents, holding titles such as Dean, Associate/Assistant Dean, Director of Student Affairs, and Dean/Director of Admissions, represent a diverse range of disciplines.
- AI’s Expanding Role in Admissions: 51% of admissions professionals believe AI will transform applicant evaluation, improving efficiency while maintaining holistic review standards.
- Enrollment Challenges & Retention Strategies: With declining enrollment rates, 41% of admissions leaders cite competition from other institutions as their top challenge, followed by declining interest in traditional college education (36%). Institutions are responding by prioritizing student retention and career readiness initiatives.
- Shifting Admissions and Funding Policies: Nearly half (46%) of U.S. admissions leaders feel fully prepared for changes in financial aid, affirmative action, and DEI policies, while 45% feel moderately prepared, underscoring the need for continued adaptation.
- Beyond Traditional Metrics: More than half (57%) of admissions professionals report increased emphasis on applicants’ personal qualities, life experiences, and extracurricular contributions as schools move away from reliance on standardized tests for knowledge and academic skills.
- Rebuilding Trust in Higher Education: Institutions are focusing on demonstrating career readiness, alumni success, and experiential learning opportunities to communicate the value of a degree amid rising economic pressures.
Empowering Admissions Teams with Data-Driven Insights
Acuity Insights’ 2025 report serves as a valuable resource for admissions leaders seeking to navigate an increasingly complex landscape. By pairing survey findings with broader industry trends, this analysis provides actionable strategies for leveraging AI, strengthening holistic review, and effectively communicating the value of higher education.
To download the full 2025 University and College Admissions Trends Report, visit https://acuityinsights.com/university-and-college-admissions-trends-report-2025.
About Casper
Casper is an open-response situational judgment test (SJT) that measures social intelligence and professionalism, and is backed by 20 years of data, and is a key input into holistic applicant reviews. Research consistently shows that demonstrating effective interpersonal skills contributes significantly to success during academic programs and in future careers.
Casper presents applicants with scenarios and questions that allow them to demonstrate these skills and the extent to which they can respond to challenging scenarios in a professional and socially intelligent manner, by using their diverse life experiences. Its open-response format, with both video and text, ensures it cannot be gamed by humans or AI, unlike most other SJTs, which use a multiple-choice format.
The Casper assessment tool measures skills such as:
- Communication
- Collaboration
- Empathy
- Fairness
- Teamwork
The evidence-based assessment is used by over 650 program partners worldwide in various fields, including the following educational programs:
- Medicine
- Health Sciences
- Teaching
- Business
- Engineering
Visit our website to discover how Casper can support your admissions goals.
About Acuity Insights
Acuity Insights is the leading provider of admissions assessment, program management, and analytics solutions for higher education. The company’s solutions help higher education institutions deliver on their mission holistically, considering the whole student, widening pathways into higher education, and ensuring both student and program success. Its Casper situational judgment test (SJT), created by researchers at McMaster University, has been taken by more than 1 million applicants since its inception. It is the most widely used open-response SJT in higher education and is backed by almost 20 years of efficacy research. Recognized as one of Canada’s Top Growing Companies by the Globe & Mail for the past six consecutive years, Acuity’s solutions are used by nearly 650 higher education programs worldwide.
Media contact:
Brianna Bell, Senior Content & Communications Manager
bbell@acuityinsights.com
