AI virtual assistants for higher education: The ROI enrollment teams can’t afford to ignore

Higher education is at a crossroads. As institutions face rising costs, shifting enrollment trends, and evolving policies, enrollment teams are being asked to increase yield, improve student support, and drive retention—all while working with fewer resources. In fact, between 2025 and 2029, schools are expecting to see a 15% decline in enrollment due to birth rate trends in previous decades. 

Compounding this challenge is the fact that students expect immediate, 24/7 access to information. Yet many institutions still rely on outdated communication models, where overburdened staff juggle hundreds of repetitive inquiries via phone and email. 

The result? Long wait times, frustrated students, and overwhelmed teams. Sound familiar?

For institutions looking to modernize operations without inflating budgets, AI virtual assistants like Gravyty Engage offer a clear path forward, delivering instant, accurate, and personalized support at scale. 

In this blog, we’ll break down exactly how investing in an AI virtual assistant that’s specifically designed for your institution pays back dividends in increased admissions and enrollment, hours of administrative time, and better student engagement.

Breaking down the ROI of AI virtual assistants for higher education

A well-implemented higher education AI assistant is more than a student engagement tool. It’s a strategic investment that saves staff time, reduces operational costs, and improves student satisfaction. Let’s break down the numbers.

How to calculate ROI for AI virtual assistants

Understanding the financial impact of an AI virtual assistant starts with calculating the cost of handling student inquiries manually. Here’s a simple formula:

1. Determine your current costs. Let’s say your institution spends $100,000 annually on student support operations, between personnel, program, and administrative costs. This accounts for the cost of software.
2. Estimate the total number of inquiries. If your team handles 10,000 inquiries per year, you can calculate the cost per inquiry: $100,000 ÷ 10,000 inquiries = $10 per inquiry
3. Project virtual assistant resolution rates. AI virtual assistants typically resolve between 60-98% of inquiries. If your virtual assistant resolves 70% of student questions, that means: 10,000 inquiries × 70% = 7,000 inquiries automated
4. Calculate potential savings. If each inquiry costs $10 to resolve, then automating 7,000 inquiries would save: $10 × 7,000 = $70,000 annually

This means your institution could redirect staff time, improve efficiency, and reduce overall operational costs, while also providing faster, more responsive support to students. It’s a win-win. 

Why higher education CRM and SIS alone aren’t enough

Many institutions rely on their CRM (Customer Relationship Management) or SIS (Student Information System) to manage student data, but these systems fall short in building real-time, meaningful connections with students. Additionally, relying exclusively on your CMS or SIS means reinforcing siloed communications rather than building a holistic, centralized student experience.

CRMs and SIS platforms store important institutional data, but they don’t provide the instant, contextual engagement students expect. They also don’t integrate real-time insights from multiple departments across campus, meaning students may receive inconsistent or outdated information depending on where they seek help.

AI virtual assistants like Gravyty Engage bridge this gap by pulling from up-to-date and legacy institutional data across campus systems, ensuring that every student interaction is accurate, timely, and personalized. By acting as the connective tissue between different data sources, virtual assistants help institutions move from transactional support to meaningful engagement.

6 proven examples of ROI for higher education virtual assistants

Institutions across the country are proving the tangible benefits of AI-powered student engagement. Here’s how AI virtual assistants are driving real impact:

1. Empire State University increased student retention

Empire State University, part of the SUNY system, needed a better way to understand students’ needs and support their success. The team implemented Engage, Gravyty’s AI virtual assistant, to enhance student service and communication. Their results:

• 25% increase in student engagement with their virtual assistant
• 50% reduction in call volume
• 4% increase in student retention

2. Bakersfield College reduced call volume & wait times

Bakersfield College has more than 40,000 students, with 75% of them receiving financial aid. The financial aid team needed a way to scale support without overwhelming staff. After adopting Gravyty’s AI virtual assistant:

• Incoming emails, wait times, and calls reduced by 30%
• Over $2M in resources saved
• Increased financial aid applications and tuition recovery

3. Florida SouthWestern State College increased enrollment

Florida SouthWestern State College had a vision to blend AI innovation into their educational curriculums and systems. They implemented a Gravyty-powered AI virtual assistant to drive enrollment growth. Their virtual assistant:

• Resolved 90% of student inquiries independently
• Saved 230+ hours of staff time
• Increased class registration rates 2x through personalized text reminders

4. Chapman University improved support efficiency & consistency

Chapman University embarked on a digital transformation to more efficiently respond to student questions and a tailored education experience. The team rolled out a campus-wide AI engagement strategy, resulting in:

• 24,553 student conversations powered
• 98.5% of inquiries resolved across 14 departments
• Nearly 65,000 student inquiries answered in seconds

5. Long Beach City College recovered tuition and saw 10x ROI

Long Beach City College serves over 23,000 students across a variety of programs including Career and Technical Education, Social Sciences, and Health. They knew they needed to build a program that supported a more unified student lifecycle, from admissions to retention. 

LBCC turned to Gravyty Engage to support student success and financial stability:

• $1.9M in tuition dollars recovered in one academic year
• $1.1M saved and 305 staff weeks freed up
• 10x return on investment

6. Florida Atlantic University streamlined financial aid processes

Before implementing an AI virtual assistant, 80% of student inquiries at Florida Atlantic University were repetitive questions, many about financial aid, that took up valuable staff time. The team also wanted to prioritize keeping a personal touch with students seeking support, all times of the day.

With seamless implementation, their AI virtual assistant was instantly providing a superior, frictionless and personalized student experience.

After launching Gravyty Engage:

• 96% drop in student appointments for simple inquiries
• 11% reduction in inbound calls and emails
• 80% of all student questions handled automatically by AI

Addressing the cost concern: You can’t afford NOT to invest

For institutions facing budget cuts, it’s understandable to question whether an AI virtual assistant is worth the investment. Can you afford to implement a new solution in a changing higher ed landscape? 

But the data makes it clear—without AI, institutions face:

• Losing thousands of staff hours annually to repetitive inquiries. 
• Overwhelmed teams struggle to provide quality service, impacting enrollment and retention. 
• Lost tuition revenue from prospects and current students disengaging more often

The success of these institutions demonstrates that AI-powered virtual assistant are a long-term investment in operational efficiency, student satisfaction, and institutional growth.

We’ve been in your shoes—the last thing enrollment leaders today need is more complex software to manage and costs to defend. AI virtual assistants like Engage cut out the hard-to-manage, hard-to-measure software to instead provide a true automation and ROI win:

• Seamless, 24/7 student support that reduces staff workload
• Significant cost savings by streamlining operations
• Better student experience that leads to higher yield and retention

Institutions that embrace AI-powered automation are seeing the benefits firsthand. Want to learn more about how Engage can help your team scale student support efficiently? Talk to our sales team today to get a custom demo.