Colleges and universities nationwide are navigating a shifting enrollment landscape marked by fewer high school graduates and changing student expectations. These trends require more than minor adjustments; they demand rethinking how to engage prospective students and guide them toward successful outcomes.

The University of Missouri–St. Louis is using that new reality as an opportunity to rethink and improve upon traditional enrollment efforts. It has launched a new partnership with Artificial Intelligence enrollment company enroll ml, whose market-leading enrollment data platform combines the deep pattern recognition of machine learning with the contextual reasoning capabilities of generative AI to help institutions deploy more efficient, cost-effective, and personalized enrollment experience.

The partnership will go beyond the typical relationship between an institution and a third-party vendor. As part of the multiyear relationship, UMSL and enroll ml will be working together to explore how the deep insights of machine learning and the contextual reasons of both agentic and generative AI can improve the processes to attract, enroll and retain students.

“The University of Missouri–St. Louis, in partnership with enroll ml, would like to be the thought leader as it relates to how AI will positively impact enrollment management processes and strategy while maintaining a keen focus on both AI ethics, privacy and security,” said Reggie Hill, UMSL’s vice chancellor for strategic enrollment and career advancement. “In the past, volume has allowed us to sustain enrollment nationally and regionally. What we know is that the Midwest is shrinking by double digits in terms of its enrollment growth, and we need to utilize advanced technology to better figure out how to connect and engage with students. This partnership with enroll ml will allow us to collaborate deeply with enroll ml’s advanced technology to improve our end-to-end student experience.”

Geoff Baird, the founder and CEO of enroll ml, was eager to engage with UMSL in discussion, collaboration and experimentation of how advanced AI can be deployed in enrollment management.

“As a state research and urban institution, UMSL brings both the research curiosity and educational mission that make it the ideal partner for this kind of applied innovation,” Baird said. “This isn’t about implementing a product, it’s about working together to test, adapt, and lead new models that can reshape how institutions across the country engage with students in more personal, timely, and effective ways.”

As part of the partnership, UMSL and enroll ml will co-design and test new approaches to recruitment, engagement, and retention using real-time behavioral data, deep signal analysis, and context-aware AI processing.

It used to be that university enrollment officials would evaluate data points such as whether a student filled out an application or came to campus for a visit to gauge a student’s interest. But today, a student might fill out 12 applications, and there’s no easy way for enrollment staffers to know if that student views their university as a top three contender or last on the list. Likewise, colleges and universities might have been quick to write off potential students who had not visited their campuses, figuring the lack of a visit demonstrated a lack of genuine curiosity about an institution. But enrollment officials are discovering that visits are a luxury that not every student can take. The lack of a visit doesn't always signal a lack of interest.

Hill and Baird believe advanced AI can help unlock better ways to evaluate the likelihood that a student will choose a particular institution, and enrollment staff members will be able to respond more effectively and efficiently in their recruitment efforts.

The technology could also help improve student retention, identifying students most at risk so that universities can direct resources and support to them and keep them on campus pursuing their degrees.

As part of the partnership, UMSL’s admissions and student success teams will receive hands-on training and direct platform support, along with early access to emerging capabilities in the enroll ml product roadmap. The university will also establish two new internships, both undergraduate and graduate, giving select UMSL students the opportunity to gain practical experience working alongside a leading venture-backed AI startup.