New Research Report Uncovers Website Experience Gaps in Higher Education

LOS ANGELES, Calif., May 15, 2025 – SearchStax, in partnership with The Chronicle of Higher Education, has released a new original research report titled Untapped Insights: The State of Site Search in Higher Education, offering a revealing look at the digital challenges facing colleges and universities today.

The report is based on a survey of more than 225 higher education marketing and website experience professionals across executive leadership, marketing, IT, admissions, student services and research. It uncovers a consistent gap between the importance institutions place on their websites and the actual experience they’re delivering—especially when it comes to search functionality.

Key findings include:

• 93% of respondents believe that improving the website experience would positively impact student success metrics like enrollment, engagement and retention—yet only 19% say their current experience is great.

• Site search ranks alongside easy navigation and accessibility as one of the top 3 most important features of a higher ed website, but more than half say their current search frustrates users with outdated or irrelevant results.

• Institutions are making content updates weekly or ad hoc, yet 43% say it takes a week or more to tune their site search so that students can actually find the most up-to-date content.

• Despite a lack of current AI maturity, 72% of institutions plan to invest in more AI tools for their website experiences in the short term.