Enrollment’s Data Reckoning: Why Most Colleges Are Unprepared (And How to Fix It) with David Burge

Enrollment leaders, listen up—it’s time to confront an uncomfortable truth: colleges stuck in old models of recruitment and data management risk falling dangerously behind.

In this eye-opening episode, Emily Smith sits down with David Burge, VP of Enrollment Management at George Mason University, to unpack the critical issues facing higher education enrollment today. From the limitations of traditional selectivity metrics, to the hidden potential of transfer and community college populations, David argues it’s time for a fundamental rethink of how enrollment offices use data to shape their futures.

They discuss:

• Why colleges overly dependent on freshman admissions alone are facing a difficult decade ahead
• How widening the funnel to embrace transfer students and non-traditional populations can unlock entirely new enrollment pathways
• The critical difference between having data and effectively using it to drive decision-making
• The dangers posed by a potential dismantling of the Department of Education’s data infrastructure, and how institutions might cope
• Actionable advice to embed genuine data fluency across your team—regardless of your current resources or skill level

If you’re serious about future-proofing your enrollment strategy, building a truly data-informed culture, and identifying overlooked talent pools, this conversation is your essential guide.

Ready to adapt? Dive in and start the transformation.