AI-Driven Digital Transformation in HE Marketing: Opportunities and Challenges in Student Recruitment

Abstract

The digital transformation in higher education (HE) marketing has accelerated rapidly after the artificial intelligence (AI) advancement, especially through the integration of generative AI technologies. Institutions are increasingly relying on these innovations to enhance outreach, personalization, and operational efficiency. Among the most promising applications is the use of AI-powered recruitment assistants, capable of providing multilingual, personalized, and real-time support to prospective students and their families. This paper explores generative AI within the student recruitment marketing strategy of university, focusing on its capacity to address long-standing recruitment challenges in the higher education sector. This paper highlights the transformative potential of AI in redefining recruitment paradigms, bridging communication gaps, and strengthening global outreach. It also underscores the necessity for ethical and strategic implementation to ensure transparency, accuracy, ethics and data security in higher education marketing. To address these issues, Canadian Institute of Technology University College (CIT) implemented an AI-driven recruitment assistant using a Large Language Model (LLM) enhanced with Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG). This approach enabled the development of a generative AI ChatBot, named CITBot grounded in CIT’s official documentation and web resources, including regulations, academic strategies, and admission procedures. To assess the impact and user satisfaction, a survey was conducted with 20 high school students and parents. The survey was administered through structured online questionnaires immediately following their chatbot interaction. The results indicated strong acceptance and a high level of willingness among users to adopt the new technology. Participants reported positive experiences regarding the clarity, accuracy, and helpfulness of the information provided. CITBot also proved to be a valuable tool in helping users better understand University's academic offerings and administrative procedures.