GoKawiilEDMO survey: colleges automate CRM but not transcript review in admissions
A new survey by EDMO, The State of Automation in Admissions Report 2026, polled 40 U.S. higher education leaders and found that while 80% have automated CRM and data synchronization and 75% have automated student communication, only 12.5% have automated transcript and credit evaluation and just 17.5% have automated identity and fraud checks. Seventy percent of respondents cited staffing and workload as a major admissions challenge, with data silos and system integration cited by 50%.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
The gap suggests colleges have automated simpler, lower-risk tasks while leaving the most labor-intensive and judgment-heavy work manual, which could limit how much capacity institutions can actually gain from digital investment. As enrollment targets grow, this imbalance may force schools to choose between hiring more staff or adopting AI tools for tasks like transcript evaluation, though the report indicates admissions leaders prefer AI that assists staff rather than replaces human decision-making on consequential cases.
- Only 12.5% of surveyed colleges automate transcript and credit evaluation, versus 80% for CRM tasks.
- 70% of admissions leaders cite staffing and workload as a top challenge, ahead of data silos (50%).
- Leaders reportedly want AI to extend staff capacity rather than replace human judgment in admissions decisions.
Source: entrepreneur.com — Ashish Fernando, 2026-10-15
Published there as: “Colleges Are Automating Admissions, but Their Most Time-Consuming Work Is Still Manual — And Costly”
Read the original report → The summary and analysis above are GoKawiil's own, written from reporting by the source above. Facts and quotes belong to the original publisher.