What discovery research reveals about why motivated applicants don't always become enrolled students.
As a result of conducting research with over 400 future students from 20 universities, TAFEs and education bodies across Australia, we have found some interesting patterns and common themes that have significantly impacted student enrolment numbers.
The future student journey is more complex than it appears
For direct entry applicants, the decision to study may be an exciting one. It might mean changing careers or finally pursuing something they've been dreaming about for years.
But when we observe real applicants moving through the experience during discovery research, a more complex picture emerges.
Future students aren't just completing an online application. What looks like a simple application is actually a significant life decision playing out across multiple channels while students juggle work, family, finances and uncertainty.
Across discovery research projects in higher education, we see the same pattern emerge. Future students often begin the process of applying to study feeling excited, confident and motivated. But uncertainty, self-doubt and frustration often creep in when the process isn’t clear and they experience ‘pain points’ and friction during their application and enrolment journey. Most of these ‘pain points’ are associated with an institutions processes, resources, technology, internal silos and governance, all of which make the student application journey more complex. These commonly result in future students lacking transparency around the application process and not understanding what happens after they apply, how long things will take, or the status of their application.
And when uncertainty grows, motivation drops. Self-doubt kicks in – “Maybe I am not smart enough to return to study”. Some students start contacting alternate channels to get answers. Others may assume they were not successful and begin exploring competitors.
Key insight: Students begin motivated and optimistic. But when the process isn't clear — no timeline, no confirmation, no guidance on what comes next — uncertainty replaces excitement. When uncertainty grows, motivation drops. Some contact multiple channels; others quietly disengage and begin exploring alternative providers.
The hidden cost of application drop-offs
Most institutions monitor how many applications they receive. Far fewer understand what actually happens between someone starting an application and becoming an enrolled student.
From a reporting perspective, this stage can look like a simple funnel. But the experience is often far more complex.
Some students pause because they are unsure about eligibility, funding, course requirements and class times. Others get stuck locating their unique student identifier or documents they didn’t realise they’d need. Some become uncertain about whether they have completed the process correctly or what happens next. Others assume they haven’t been successful if they don’t hear back – and quietly begin making alternative plans.
When the process isn't clear, future students fill in the gaps themselves. They call to check the status of their application, email staff for clarification, search the website again, or begin researching other institutions. Others may even abandon the whole process as they are too overwhelmed or have too much self-doubt to proceed.
From the institution’s perspective, these behaviours are hard to see. From the student’s perspective, the experience has shifted from excitement to uncertainty.
And uncertainty is expensive.
Not just because some students drop out of the process, but because friction creates real operational costs for staff as well.
What application friction actually costs
Consider a simplified example.
Imagine an institution receives 50,000 applications in a year. If 40% of future students drop out during the journey, that’s 20,000 students who never reach enrolment.
Now consider the operational effort involved in supporting the students who do continue.
Assuming 50,000 applicants apply, and 25,000 of these need an average of 15 minutes of staff support, that equates to 6,250 staff hours @ $60 per hour = $375,000 AUD.
That’s the equivalent of more than three full-time staff members simply helping applicants navigate friction in the process. And that’s before considering the additional workload and stress on staff created by repeated phone calls or emails, or the potential loss of enrolments and revenue when students abandon the process altogether.
If student friction is reduced by improving the student application experience and the amount of staff support is reduced by 50%, staff cost savings could equate to $187,500. More realistically, these staff could be used to provide more meaningful customer interactions that will likely lead to less applicant abandonment and greater staff job satisfaction.
Of course, these figures are illustrative and will vary by institution. If you can calculate these figures for your institution, it may provide a valuable business case for analysing and improving the student application experience.
What we see when we observe the real journey
When institutions take the time to understand future students navigating the journey to enrolment, a consistent pattern often emerges.
Consider a typical future mature-age student.
After deciding to study, they submit an application. At this point they feel excited and confident they have taken the first step toward starting their qualification and a new career.
Then the waiting begins.
They check their email for updates. They begin to wonder how long the process usually takes and whether they should apply elsewhere.
They start getting stressed as they have to organise child-care and potentially change their work commitments before they start.
With only a short time before classes are due to commence and no word from the institution, that uncertainty grows until they pick up the phone, possibly wait more than an hour to speak to someone about their application.
From the student’s perspective, they’re simply trying to move forward and getting disheartened and frustrated as time progresses.
From the institution’s perspective, that translates into additional enquiries, increased workload during peak admissions periods, and pressure on staff who are already stretched.
One of the most encouraging findings from this kind of research is that many of these issues do not require major system changes to fix. Often the biggest improvements come from relatively simple changes such as clearer communication during the application process.
Building the capability to find these insights
Uncovering friction like this requires a specific combination of skills: designing research that exposes the real student applicant experience, observing how applicants move across multiple channels, and analysing both qualitative and quantitative data to identify patterns.
In higher education environments, it also requires understanding the broader service ecosystem - how marketing, admissions, customer service teams, teaching staff and technology platforms interact across the student journey. More often, it's the interaction between people, processes, communication and systems that shapes the experience.
Teams that build these capabilities are better equipped to find where future students are struggling, identify the moments that matter most, prioritise improvements that reduce friction and uncertainty, and design experiences that actually carry students through to enrolment.
Developing this capability is one of the most valuable investments an institution can make - not just for operational efficiency, but for the future students who deserve a clearer, more confident path to enrolment.
If you're looking to develop these skills within your own institution, our human-centred design courses for higher education give teams practical tools to research, understand and improve student experiences. We also work directly with universities, TAFEs, private training organisations and education bodies through our consulting practice - drawing on more than two decades of experience in the sector.
The insights are there. You just need the right methods to find them for your institution.