Product Insights
April 10, 2026
Meet Reach: Encoura’s CRM for the Student Journey
# CRM
# Reach
A student’s journey shouldn't feel like a relay race where the baton is dropped at every handoff.
Juan López
Imagine a student’s college experience as a relay race: One team gets the student to the starting line (Admissions). Another picks up the baton mid-race (Advising and Student Success). Each plays a critical role, but they’re not always running in sync.
The problem isn't effort, it’s coordination. When these teams operate in silos, handoffs break down, and with 90% of initial college contacts now happening electronically1, those digital handoffs are where the student is most likely to stumble.
A Purpose-Built Student Engagement CRM That Doesn't Stop at the Finish Line of Enrollment.
While most CRMs are “admissions-first” tools that go dark the moment a student is deposited, Reach stays with the student, from first inquiry through persistence and progress toward their goals.
We aren't just giving you a toolkit to build a CRM; we are delivering a higher-ed-specific engine that turns fragmented data into proactive, coordinated student engagement at every step.
The Cost of Fragmented Data
Between 2010 and 2021, institutions experienced a 15% decline in enrollment, leaving 2.7 million fewer students on campuses today. The looming "demographic cliff" projects another 15% drop in 18-year-olds by 2039.2
In this context of declining demographics and rising expectations for personalization (61% of students now expect a personalized web experience3), many enrollment leaders are being tasked with managing the student lifecycle through siloed systems and manual spreadsheets.
- The "Hand-off" Gap: Marketing tools often stop at the point of application, leaving advisors blind to the promises made during recruitment.
- Reactive vs. Proactive: Most systems alert you when a student is already failing, rather than giving you the tools to intervene when they first show signs of struggle.
- Hidden Inefficiencies: Staff spend more time stitching data together across multiple platforms than they do building authentic student connections.
The Industry Mandate: Data as a Strategic Asset. For enrollment leaders, EDUCAUSE’s 2026 rankings highlight two critical barriers: institutions need stronger analytics to understand enrollment trends (#3) and broader access to campus-wide data to act on them (#4). Together, they signal a clear mandate — elevate data as a strategic asset to drive smarter enrollment decisions.4
Moving from Insight to Action
At Encoura, we believe technology should empower your team to act with purpose. Our CRM solution focuses on three core areas to unlock institutional value:
- Unified Visibility: Bringing recruitment, admissions, and student success into one connected space so every department sees the full student story.
- Personalization at Scale: Using intelligent segmentation and channel optimization to deliver the right message at the right time without increasing staff headcount.
- Coordinated Intervention: Bridging the gap between data and outreach, allowing advisors to act immediately on risk indicators.
Reach solves the #1 student frustration—finding specific major/program information (cited by 26%5)—by helping enrollment teams deliver tailored content without increasing headcount.
How Reach Delivers Value
Reach is a higher education–specific lifecycle engagement solution built on Microsoft Dynamics 365 and natively integrated across the Microsoft ecosystem. This means your team works with familiar tools such as Teams, Outlook, and Power BI while benefiting from a platform designed for the unique complexities of a campus.
We prioritize the channels students actually use: 74% of students prefer email for primary communication, and 40% prefer text messages for follow-up.6 While generic CRMs require heavy customization, Reach is purpose-built with out-of-the-box workflows for enrollment and retention.
Proven Outcomes for Enrollment Leaders
Institutions using Reach have achieved measurable gains across critical metrics:
- Enrollment Growth: The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga recorded consecutive enrollment increases of 4% and 2.4% by using Reach to engage both students and parents with precision.
- Operational Efficiency: Touro University consolidated 12 separate admission tools into one unified platform, automating manual inquiries and standardizing admissions across 35 colleges.
- Faster Time-to-Value: Our optimized implementation framework reduces deployment time by up to 3 months, getting your team to full productivity faster.
“By using Reach and being able to target students and talk to them based on who they are and what they’re interested in, we’re able to tell our story a lot better than we had in previous products.” Tonia Martin Director of Strategic Enrollment Technology, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Discover how Reach helped UTC achieve enrollment growth in a declining market
The Power of the Encoura Ecosystem
With the acquisition of Reach and other lifecycle engagement solutions from Anthology, Encoura is bridging the gap between research and execution.
Decades of market insights and data science with agile technology help institutions act intentionally at every stage of the student journey, from first interest through campus life and long-term alumni involvement.
This acquisition strengthens Encoura’s focus on what matters most in higher education: how institutions engage students over time. By adding Anthology’s Lifecycle Engagement and Student Success capabilities, we’re empowering institutions to support students from first interest through graduation and beyond with the insight and tools needed to act intentionally at every stage.” Dennis Syracuse CEO, Encoura
Join Us at AACRAO
Are you attending the upcoming AACRAO annual meeting? Connect with us at booth 119 and join our session: "From Data to Decisions: Building a More Responsive Enrollment & Retention Strategy with Modern CRM Approaches."
We’ll share actionable strategies for breaking down silos and using a unified platform to turn research into immediate outreach.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does Reach differ from "admissions-only" CRMs?
Most tools end their support at admission; Reach is a lifecycle-wide CRM built for higher education that connects recruitment data directly to student success and advising workflows.
Is Reach just another "toolkit" we have to build ourselves?
No. While industry-agnostic platforms provide a general toolkit, Reach is a purpose-built solution with preconfigured higher-ed workflows, reducing your dependency on IT and external consultants. AI capabilities powered by Microsoft Copilot are available across the solution, and customized workflows and business automation can also be created in a no-code environment with Power Automate.
Can Reach help us identify at-risk students?
Yes. Reach surfaces real-time academic risk indicators, co-curricular engagement data, and other key student information that can be used by advisors to inform interventions and trigger automated outreach or success plans immediately.
Does Reach integrate with other solutions?
Yes. Reach integrates with select Encoura solutions, such as Engage (formerly Anthology Engage), to surface co-curricular involvement insights directly within the advisor dashboard.
Encoura customers can use Reach to activate and engage prospects. Enrollment teams can import Encoura prospect data into the CRM and take action through targeted communications, workflows, and outreach.
Reach also integrates with Blackboard and other external systems to help create a more complete view of each student, enriched with academic engagement, standing, and program insights.
Explore other resources
- Action plan: 2026 Digital Marketing Trends for Higher Education
- Join us at the Encoura + RNL National Conference
- Discover Reach - Enrollment & Retention CRM
- Discover Engage - Co-Curricular Experience platform
References
[1] RNL, Halda & Modern Campus (2025). 2025 E-Expectations Trend Report. Ruffalo Noel Levitz*. RNL.com/Expectations (p. 5) (*Ruffalo Noel Levitz is now Encoura.)
[2] Marcus, J. (2025, January 8). A looming “demographic cliff”: Fewer college students and ultimately fewer graduates. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2025/01/08/nx-s1-5246200/demographic-cliff-fewer-college-students-mean-fewer-graduates
[3] RNL, Halda & Modern Campus (2025). 2025 E-Expectations Trend Report. Ruffalo Noel Levitz*. RNL.com/Expectations (p. 20) (*Ruffalo Noel Levitz is now Encoura.)
[4] EDUCAUSE. (2026). Top 10 IT issues, technologies, and trends. https://www.educause.edu/research-and-publications/research/top-10-it-issues-technologies-and-trends/2026
[5] RNL, Halda & Modern Campus (2025). 2025 E-Expectations Trend Report. Ruffalo Noel Levitz*. RNL.com/Expectations (p. 17) (*Ruffalo Noel Levitz is now Encoura.)
[6] RNL, Halda & Modern Campus (2025). 2025 E-Expectations Trend Report. Ruffalo Noel Levitz*. RNL.com/Expectations (p. 24) (*Ruffalo Noel Levitz is now Encoura.)
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