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The Signal Solution: How Smart Colleges Stop Chasing Applications and Start Converting Students
The future of enrollment isn’t more volume, it’s more vision.
Higher education is caught in a Category 5 a shrinking demographic base, distorted application signals, the rise of alternate paths, the ROI crisis, and the mandate for personalization. For too long, enrollment teams have been flying blind, clinging to dashboards and metrics that make them feel in control but don’t reflect how today’s students actually make decisions.
The Signal Solution reveals a new playbook. Drawing on years of field-tested work with colleges and universities of every type, Geoff Baird and Teege Mettille uncover the “movable middle” of the funnel, students who have applied but remain uncommitted, and show how institutions can recognize and respond to the signals that matter most. Their work with AI and machine learning exposes why traditional CRMs and comfort metrics fail, and how counselors can shift from guesswork to precision, reclaiming the time and focus to connect deeply with students.
This isn’t a book about working harder. It’s about working smarter by aligning marketing, academics, finance, and admissions around a shared, data-driven understanding of student behavior. Along the way, Baird and Mettille challenge long-held assumptions about financial aid, personalization, and the role of “yield season,” offering a system that sees earlier, adapts faster, and supports smarter choices.
For enrollment leaders, presidents, trustees, and counselors alike, The Signal Solution is both diagnosis and a whole-systems approach to building resilient enrollment operations that thrive in any market.
The market has outpaced the metrics. This book shows how to catch up and move ahead.
Higher education is caught in a Category 5 a shrinking demographic base, distorted application signals, the rise of alternate paths, the ROI crisis, and the mandate for personalization. For too long, enrollment teams have been flying blind, clinging to dashboards and metrics that make them feel in control but don’t reflect how today’s students actually make decisions.
The Signal Solution reveals a new playbook. Drawing on years of field-tested work with colleges and universities of every type, Geoff Baird and Teege Mettille uncover the “movable middle” of the funnel, students who have applied but remain uncommitted, and show how institutions can recognize and respond to the signals that matter most. Their work with AI and machine learning exposes why traditional CRMs and comfort metrics fail, and how counselors can shift from guesswork to precision, reclaiming the time and focus to connect deeply with students.
This isn’t a book about working harder. It’s about working smarter by aligning marketing, academics, finance, and admissions around a shared, data-driven understanding of student behavior. Along the way, Baird and Mettille challenge long-held assumptions about financial aid, personalization, and the role of “yield season,” offering a system that sees earlier, adapts faster, and supports smarter choices.
For enrollment leaders, presidents, trustees, and counselors alike, The Signal Solution is both diagnosis and a whole-systems approach to building resilient enrollment operations that thrive in any market.
The market has outpaced the metrics. This book shows how to catch up and move ahead.
218 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 25, 2025
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
September 12, 2025
I was excited to receive an advanced copy of this book. And yes!! - it was a hell of a read.
Having spent much of my career helping colleges rethink enrollment strategies and implementing enrollment technologies, I was impressed by how The Signal Solution reframes the conversation. Instead of offering another checklist of (often dated) tactics, this book forces us to confront the misalignments at the heart of our work — the gap between how institutions recruit and how today’s students actually make decisions. That distinction alone makes it worth the read.
What I found most compelling is the way Geoff and Teege illustrate the shift from volume-driven recruiting to signal-driven engagement. The argument isn’t abstract — it’s grounded in the reality that without AI and behavioral intelligence, institutions simply cannot operate at the level of precision required. For enrollment leaders and presidents navigating a student-dependent future, this book provides not only clarity but also a sense of urgency. It is less about chasing the latest tool and more about rethinking the system itself.
Having spent much of my career helping colleges rethink enrollment strategies and implementing enrollment technologies, I was impressed by how The Signal Solution reframes the conversation. Instead of offering another checklist of (often dated) tactics, this book forces us to confront the misalignments at the heart of our work — the gap between how institutions recruit and how today’s students actually make decisions. That distinction alone makes it worth the read.
What I found most compelling is the way Geoff and Teege illustrate the shift from volume-driven recruiting to signal-driven engagement. The argument isn’t abstract — it’s grounded in the reality that without AI and behavioral intelligence, institutions simply cannot operate at the level of precision required. For enrollment leaders and presidents navigating a student-dependent future, this book provides not only clarity but also a sense of urgency. It is less about chasing the latest tool and more about rethinking the system itself.
Displaying 1 of 1 review