Students turning to in-person communications as AI reshapes enrollment process

While AI continues to reshape communication across higher education, new findings from Keystone Education Group reveal a growing preference from prospective students for more personal, human-centered engagement with universities. 

Keystone’s State of Student Recruitment survey asked 42,000 students about how they preferred to communicate, and while email remains the stand-out favorite, it has lost appeal since 2024 – with 14% fewer students saying it is their top communication method.  

In its place, in-person communication has surged in popularity by 200% – the largest increase across all communication channels. 

Chief Marketing Officer at Keystone Education Group, Saba Davenport, said the shift reflects a broader desire for human connection in an increasingly automated world. 

She said: "Students are using a wider range of channels to communicate with universities and increasingly value direct contact in an era of potential AI automation.  

"Our 2025 data is showing email to be a much less dominant channel than in recent years, while direct messaging, video conferencing and in-person meetings are all becoming more important as students are drawn to personal conversations. 

“We are also seeing the importance of face-to-face interactions elsewhere in our data. 74% of students want to study on campus and in-person - up 12% from 2023.” 

Instant messaging platforms, such as Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp, have also seen significant growth, increasing by 25% from 2024. This growth has been particularly pronounced among Asian students (18%) and South American students (19%), suggesting cultural variations in communication preferences. 

Video conferencing (8%) and phone calls (5%) maintain modest but stable positions in student preferences, while live chat on university websites represents just 3% of preferred communication methods. 

Saba Davenport added: “Institutions need to strike the balance between personalization and nurturing large numbers of students at once, and AI has a role to play in that.  

“Students expect responses from universities extremely quickly. However, the risk lies in becoming too reliant on AI. It is now prevalent in daily life, and students are seeking authentic human interactions as a counterbalance to that. 

“It needs to complement and enhance human interactions rather than substituting them entirely.” 

About Keystone Education Group 

More than 100 million students trust Keystone to help them pursue higher education every year. In turn, Keystone helps over 5,500 education institutions reach, recruit, and enroll prospective students in more than 190 countries. Keystone also operates a range of global student recruitment services including UniQuest, Asia Exchange, Blueberry, SONOR, Edunation, and Keystone Sports. 

Headquartered in Oslo, Norway, Keystone is backed by Viking Venture and Verdane, two leading Nordic venture firms. Keystone has more than 850+ employees worldwide, with offices across the Nordics, Germany, Spain, and the UK.