Student journey mapping in higher education: A practical guide to boost enrollments 

In the enrollment race, when prospective students reach out to multiple universities, they’re not just comparing programs. They’re comparing experiences. 

One generic “thank you” email versus personalized course information and immediate counselor support can be the difference between an application submitted and an opportunity lost. 

The institutions that win don’t just respond faster—they respond smarter. They know where each student is in their decision-making journey and tailor every interaction accordingly. Personalized communication strategies significantly improve student engagement and enrollment outcomes. This is student journey mapping in action. 

A higher education student journey map helps counselors deliver the right message at the right time—turning generic outreach into personalized, context-driven conversations. When done right, student journey mapping transforms how institutions engage prospects, leading to better conversions, fewer drop-offs, and ultimately, more enrolled students. 

This article details the exact steps of how universities can build student journey maps, the role that technology plays in them, and the common mistakes to avoid. 

Let’s get started! 

What is student journey mapping? 

Student journey mapping is a visual representation of the student experience, from the initial inquiry to graduation and beyond. It serves as a powerful tool for higher education institutions to understand the student’s perspective, identify pain points, and enhance the overall student experience.  

When institutions map the student journey, they can anticipate student needs and respond strategically—leading to better engagement, higher retention, and more successful enrollments. 

In essence, a student experience journey map allows colleges and universities to see the entire student lifecycle through the eyes of their students. Whether it’s streamlining the application process, enhancing academic advising, or improving student services, a well-crafted university student journey map is instrumental in creating a supportive and engaging environment for all students. 

6 steps to build an effective student journey map  

Let’s look at how one can get started with building a student customer journey map. 

It’s important to remember that student journey mapping in higher education doesn’t stop at the enrolment stage. It takes the entire student journey into account, from the first interaction with your college to the students’ lives beyond education, as an alumnus.  

Disclosure: This article is produced by LeadSquared, which is a a higher education CRM provider. While we reference our platform as an example, the journey mapping framework can be implemented with various tools or manual processes. 

Step 1: Define your student personas 

The first step is to establish who your key student personas are, i.e. the people who are likely to apply and enroll in a program at your college.   

Once complete, you can use them as a springboard for ideas that will help you refine your messaging, create successful conversion funnels, and, ultimately, increase conversions.  

There’s no strict template to follow, but you could aim to include the following information in each student persona:  

• A name  

• A summary describing their day-to-day life and motivations  

• Relevant demographic details (location, educational background, age)   

• Ambitions and challenges  

• Information sources (social media, school, relatives, etc.)  

• Testimonial extracts from existing students  

Following an analysis of an extensive student survey, The Parthenon Group created segments based on what people hoped to achieve following their bachelor’s degree.

It is important to understand the deeper motivations of students to better meet their needs and compete in an evolving higher education market. 

– The Differentiated University, The Parthenon Group

Step 2: Plot the student journey  

Once you’ve established your student personas, it’s time to plot the journey map of a student.  

When, where, and how do students interact with your college?  

Student journey starts at the point at which they find out about your college, whether it’s through word of mouth or by seeing an ad on Instagram.  

Broadly speaking, you can divide the student journey into six phases:  

• Discovery  

• Evaluation  

• Application  

• Enrollment  

• Retention  

• Loyalty  

Of course, every education provider—and program—is unique, and your student journey might differ slightly.  

Breaking down the student journey in this way can help you understand the student experience better and help you identify challenges and opportunities.  

Step 3: Pinpoint student touchpoints  

How do students interact with your institution?  

Where do they go to find out about program requirements, start dates, student finance options (including scholarships), and accommodation?  

There are multiple steps a student has to go through before getting enrolled in a course. Each step must have a touchpoint (a channel of communication) from your end. Be it a form, an email, or a phone call. 

To better understand each persona’s journey, identify their typical touchpoints. This exercise should be a collaborative one involving the admissions and marketing teams.  

Common student-college touchpoints include:  

• Your college’s website  

• Social media channels (e.g. LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, Meta)  

• Downloadable content (brochures, course curriculum, etc.)  

• Email exchanges  

• SMS texts   

• The application portal  

• Campus visits and virtual events 

While you identify the touchpoints, also take note of the points that might cause friction. For example, a lengthy website form. Instead, you can either use a shorter form or have a robust Higher Education CRM that could save that data in the student’s application portal.   

Next, work out which stage in the student journey the touchpoint corresponds with.  

For instance, social media may correspond with the “discovery” and “alumnus” stages best.  

Note: If your student journey has too many touchpoints, ask yourself: Are you sharing information students actually need, or just trying to stay visible? Students respond better when you give them what they’re looking for—not just reminders that you exist. 

Step 4: Investigate what works well and what doesn’t  

Now you’ve identified your personas, their journey, and touchpoints, it’s time to dig deeper into how successful you are at engagement.  

How many prospective students go on to apply after downloading a prospectus, for example? What are your student retention ratios for different personas, and at which point is a student most likely to drop out (i.e. in their first year of study)?  

Tracking movement is where a Higher Education CRM, like LeadSquared, comes in handy. Your higher education CRM  should enable you to track students’ activities on your website, ads, and social media with ease.  

Step 5: Apply what you’ve learned today  

After honing on what works well and where there’s room for improvement, you can start to make a real difference by planning and implementing fresh strategies.  

One of the most effective ways to do this is by taking a cross-departmental approach, bringing in the ideas and expertise of teachers and non-teaching staff alike.   

Automation in higher education has evolved. Students have come to expect a streamlined and personalized experience. Again, your CRM can be a critical toolbox when it comes to facilitating new and improved approaches.  

Step 6: Design targeted interventions 

Once you’ve gathered and analyzed insights from your student journey map, the next step is to put this knowledge into action through thoughtful interventions. The key is to address pain points and enhance positive experiences at every stage. Here are some intervention strategies to consider: 

• Academic support initiatives: If students frequently struggle with coursework early on, consider implementing tutoring programs, peer mentoring, or additional online resources tailored to those moments of need. 

• Enhanced communication: If the journey map reveals confusion around deadlines or application processes, automate timely reminders via email, SMS, or even WhatsApp to ensure students never miss a step. 

• Wellness and support services: Noticing higher dropout rates linked to stress? Proactively offer access to counseling services, stress-management workshops, or digital wellness tools. 

• Personalized onboarding: For students indicating uncertainty during the transition period, curated welcome guides, campus tours (virtual or in-person), and assigned student ambassadors can ease the adjustment. 

• Financial guidance: If financial concerns are common, provide early access to scholarship information, financial aid counseling, and budgeting workshops. 

When you are living through the journey a student takes, identify the common areas where one might get stuck or drop off. Have your team reach out to students to help them by building a repository of answers and short explainer videos for better understanding.  

Regularly assess the impact of these interventions, refining your approach as student needs evolve. This data-driven, student-centered method not only ensures students receive the support they need but also fosters a lasting sense of connection with your institution. 

Why mapping the emotional landscape matters 

When building a student journey map, it’s easy to focus on processes—but the emotional experience matters just as much. Students move through each stage feeling curious, anxious, confused, or excited, and mapping these emotions helps uncover friction and opportunities for better support. Tools like NPS surveys can capture these emotional highs and lows at key touchpoints, revealing where students may disengage or feel delighted. 

Visualizing the emotional landscape allows institutions to act with empathy and precision by enabling them to: 

• Intervene early where students feel overwhelmed or disengaged 

• Celebrate and amplify moments that inspire confidence and belonging 

• Tailor communications and resources to match students’ emotional needs 

Paying attention to emotions isn’t just a nice addition—it’s essential to creating more human, relevant, and effective student experiences. 

And if you’d like to re-engage stopped-out students, here’s a helpful resource: 

Proven Strategies To Re-engage And Re-enroll Stopped-out Students 

In a LeadSquared webinar on “The Role of Student Journey Mapping to Drive Conversions,” industry leaders shared how technology helps them map and nurture students throughout the application journey. Jatin Arora (Former Vice President–Business at Leverage Edu), Libu Thomas (Former Head of Business at Admitkard), and others, discussed practical strategies for implementing effective student journey mapping in university settings. 

You can view the whole webinar here: 

The webinar revealed a striking challenge. When asked about their biggest obstacle in building journey maps, a common obstacle emerged: many institutions struggle to identify where to begin with journey mapping. This reflects a broader industry gap between recognizing journey mapping’s value and having clear implementation frameworks. 

“Build a discovery to dorm approach – help a student be prepared from applying to a university till they actually start studying there.” 

– Jatin Arora, Vice President-Business, Leverage Edu 

How can a higher education CRM help you enhance the student journey?  

Right from choosing the channel of communication, and the messages you send out to taking corrective action, a Higher Education CRM, such as LeadSquared, will help you engage and enhance the student’s journey. Here’s why a CRM will help you implement and improve your student journey maps – 

1. Drive personalized conversations  

A higher education CRM will track all the activities a student undertakes while applying to your university. The pages they browse, the forms they leave half-finished, or the videos they view–everything will be tracked. This goldmine of information can help your counselors drive more personalized conversations, and you can also set up triggers to send out messages.  

2. Make timely interventions  

If your counselor can get notified that a student is browsing through the financial aid section and make a call explaining the various options they have, the student will be more receptive to that information. As mentioned earlier, if you share information that the student is looking for, they will be more loyal to you.  

With technology, we can give every student a checklist to prepare for the next stage. It allows us to reach out to students in a timely manner. And we are able to do this with the help of LeadSquared.

 – Libu Thomas, Former Head of Business, Admitkard 

3. Have data-driven insights  

Creating a student journey map is a whole lot of learning, unlearning, and relearning. With the help of a higher education CRM, you get to learn more about the applicant, unlearn the unnecessary steps causing friction, and relearn what steps to remove or improve during the entire journey. And the whole process is driven by data and insights.  

4. Help train counselors  

Whatever interactions your counselors have with the student is captured in the CRM. The call recordings, demo notes, and customer feedback prove to be helpful in training other counselors on how to hold conversations, identify messages that resonate the most, and capture the gaps that need to be filled.   

Also read:  

10 Keys To Standardize Student Communication Across Counselors 

How AI Improves Student Counselor Performance: 5 Use Cases 

5. Identify qualified opportunities  

The CRM can capture cues as to which students are more likely to convert. This will help your counselors prioritize the ones that are moving down the funnel rather than respond to queries as they come.   

For example, a student filling out an inquiry through a specific course page vis-a-vis a student dropping in a generic inquiry. The first student has shown a higher intent to enroll in the course, so the counselor should call them first. An effective lead management software can help you achieve this with its quality scoring and lead prioritization features.   

6. Help nurture students  

Not all students that discover you are ready to study with you. Some might also be trying to get a head start to understand what it takes to study at your university. Just so that you don’t lose touch with these students, a CRM can help you nurture them untill they are ready to begin their journey.   

Thanks to LeadSquared, we’ve been able to map detailed student journeys that helped us nurture students who have 2 or 3 years remaining before enrollment. We can automate this engagement until the students are ready to start their journey with us. 

– Jatin Arora, Former Vice President–Business, Leverage Edu 

Pitfalls to avoid while building journey maps  

Here are some common mistakes to avoid when you start building your student journey maps 

1. Not living a student’s journey  

The best way to identify friction points? Experience your enrollment process firsthand. Walking through the student journey reveals exactly where prospects struggle and how you can improve. 

2. Ignoring the cracks based on our biases  

This is one of the most common and honest mistakes admissions teams make while building student journey maps. You shouldn’t ignore a leak in your funnel based on personal biases. It’s like running a scientific experiment–keep it unbiased and random.    

3. Not identifying the holes in our funnel  

Missing a leak is one thing, but if you can’t identify the reason for the leak—that’s an entirely different problem. If there are 5 milestones that the student needs to complete before enrolling with you, then there are 5 potential stages from where the student can move out the funnel.   

With the help of a higher education CRM, you will be able to identify these leaks and nurture them further till they are ready to get back into the funnel.  

Also read: Admission Challenges Slowing Your Growth? Identify 8 Key Bottlenecks 

4. Not applying the learnings  

After you take note of the entire process, apply it, and learn new outcomes with the help of your CRM, it is important that you apply them. Remember, unlearning and relearning are just as important to build better journey maps.   

You can keep tabs on a number of education KPIs or build detailed reports to understand student behavior and improve the admissions process.   

Wrapping up  

We hope this article has equipped you with everything you need to start building student journey maps and identify scope for improvement in your current processes. 

In the age of expensive online ads, too much competition, and even shorter attention spans, it is important to adopt the right processes and technologies that help you engage and retain your students better.  

If you’re looking to improve student engagement through technology, give LeadSquared for Education a try. Get in touch with our team to learn how you can build detailed journey maps and improve student experience.   

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