Inside InsightsEDU 2026: Highlights From the Conference Transforming Higher Education

The energy was unmistakable as higher education leaders from more than 100 universities gathered in Fort Lauderdale for InsightsEDU 2026. Leaders from across the sector arrived with a shared understanding: higher education is not drifting toward disruption. It is being rebuilt inside it.

InsightsEDU 2026 wasn’t designed for minor optimizations or quick fixes. It was built for leaders who are done with “business as usual” and ready to redesign their strategies around the Modern Learner—using data, technology and AI to serve students more effectively and with greater impact.

InsightsEDU exists to do what most higher ed conferences don’t: collapse the distance between brand, enrollment and student success. It’s where presidents, provosts, marketers and enrollment leaders step out of their silos, confront the realities of today’s market and work together on what comes next.

This year, that purpose came through clearly.

The Shifts That Defined InsightsEDU 2026

From the mainstage to small-group conversations, InsightsEDU 2026 kept pulling leaders back to the same core message: the old playbook has run out of road. The Modern Learner is moving fast, and institutions must decide whether they’re moving ahead or being left behind.

More than 370 attendees came from across the country to hear from leaders at major digital platforms and institutional innovators who are already testing new models on their campuses. Out of those three days, four big shifts emerged.

1. Incrementalism Is Over

The opening sessions set the tone. This isn’t a temporary storm. It’s a structural reset.

EducationDynamics leaders, market strategists and campus voices made the same case bringing in different perspectives: demographic contraction, shifting student expectations and AI-driven change have made “a little more of the same” a liability, not a strategy.

Stories like Unity Environmental University’s growth illustrated the point. When an institution designs around real student lives rather than a traditional campus ideal—and treats digital and AI as core to the experience, not merely an add-on—growth and mission can move together. When they don’t, even strong brands struggle.

Later, university presidents carried that urgency into an unfiltered discussion on reinvention. They wrestled openly with questions that rarely get this level of candor: What must we dismantle to protect the mission? What new models do we need to sustain relevance and access? How do we move before market forces make the decisions for us?

The verdict: the traditional enrollment playbook cannot be “optimized” into the future. It has to be rebuilt.

2. The Modern Learner Is Rewriting The Rules

If the opening redefined the landscape, the sessions focused on the Modern Learner showed how that change shows up in actual student behavior.

Attendees received an early, exclusive look at EducationDynamics’ 2026 Modern Learner Report. The sessions distilled four forces reshaping how students search, compare and choose:

• The AI front door: More learners now start with AI tools and conversational queries, not just search results. Visibility means showing up accurately in AI-generated answers, not only on a list of blue links.
• Orbit economics: Enrollment behaves less like a funnel and more like an orbit. Signals around value, trust, affordability and outcomes determine whether students drift closer or further away.
• Career as entry point: Career clarity has become the gate. If students can’t see a credible path to economic mobility, programs rarely make the shortlist.
• Reputation as validation system: Brand now functions as a living validation engine, interpreted constantly by AI, students, alumni and the public. What an institution claims matters less than what the ecosystem can verify.

This content equipped attendees with the data and insight to recalibrate strategy, not just confirm what they already believed. Institutions that align their strategies and experiences to these realities will be better positioned to grow with integrity in a volatile market. The full 2026 Modern Learner Report, now available for download, gives leaders a deeper framework to carry this work back home.

3. Brand, AI And Discoverability Are Shaping Reputation

Another clear shift: institutions are no longer the only voices shaping their narratives. Instead, they must architect the signals that shape them.

Leaders from Google, LinkedIn, Snapchat and Reddit joined higher ed leaders to show how Modern Learners actually encounter institutions—through search, feeds, recommendations and AI-generated summaries. Reputation is being built long before a prospect hits a homepage or fills out a request for information.

The takeaway: brand, AI and discoverability are no longer separate workstreams. Together, they function as core infrastructure for enrollment.

4. Leadership Means Dismantling the Status Quo

One defining theme at InsightsEDU 2026 was unmistakable: this moment calls for leaders who are ready to dismantle the status quo, not simply manage around it.

Through leadership-focused panels like “Enrollment Reimagined: Designing a Strategy for Every Student” and “The New Academic Frontier: Developing and Launching Programs that Serve the Modern Learner,” attendees dug into what that really looks like. They explored how to make decisions while the ground is still shifting—how to align mission and margin, communicate honestly about tradeoffs and move from preserving old structures to building new ones around the Modern Learner.

Across all four shifts, a single throughline held: higher education cannot wait for perfect clarity. Institutions that will thrive are the ones willing to act, learn and iterate in real time, with the Modern Learner at the center.

Sessions And Voices That Moved The Room

Across three days, the combination of sessions, live conversations and shared experiences made InsightsEDU 2026 more than just a conference. A few moments kept surfacing in hallway conversations and post-event debriefs. Here are some that left a lasting impact:

The Evolution of Website Marketing

In a case study with Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design (RMCAD), EducationDynamics and campus partners walked through how rethinking the institution’s website around Modern Learner behavior shifted outcomes.

By centering clarity on outcomes, simplifying paths, strengthening calls to action and using data to refine each step, the team saw meaningful improvements in high-intent inquiries and conversions. The session underscored a simple truth: when your digital front door matches how students actually decide, performance follows.

Matt Dunsmoor’s Inspiring Keynote

Higher education is not a finite game with fixed rules and a clear endpoint. It is an ever-evolving landscape shaped by shifting expectations, complex pressures and the rising demands of the Modern Learner.

In his keynote, Matt Dunsmoor from Simon Sinek’s The Optimism Company invited leaders to shift from a finite mindset to an infinite one. He challenged institutions to reconnect with a clear and compelling why, build trusting teams and create cultures where people feel connected to the mission, not just the metrics.

Rather than offering quick fixes, he offered a framework: when leaders act from purpose, they build resilience, unlock innovation and position their campuses to thrive over the long term. The message was clear: higher education’s future belongs to leaders who are willing to play the long game.

Building the Brand Pyramid: Brand Discovery in the Age of AI

In this session, EducationDynamics’ VP of Marketing, Sarah Russell, unpacked the Brand Visibility Pyramid, showing how Modern Learners encounter and evaluate institutions across search, social and AI-driven experiences. In a follow-up fireside chat, Charlie Parker of Keiser University and Nick Swisher of Indiana Wesleyan University shared how they’re applying the framework on their own campuses—breaking from status-quo marketing, strengthening the signals that matter and staying discoverable in an AI-first world.

The EdUp Experience Podcast, Live

In addition to a mix of compelling sessions, attendees got a front-row seat to The EdUp Experience Podcast, recorded live on site and capturing unfiltered conversations with presidents, campus leaders, and more. The blend of candid questions, humor and real talk echoed what was happening off-mic, reflecting a community wrestling honestly with what real change requires.