Why Education Marketers Are Betting Big on CTV to Drive Enrollment

Author: Bradley Buss, Regional Sales Manager, Premion

In today’s competitive higher education landscape, standing out to prospective students is harder than ever. Colleges, universities, online programs, and credentialing platforms are all vying for the attention of a digitally native generation that expects personalization, relevance, and convenience—on their terms.

To break through the noise and drive meaningful engagement, higher ed marketers are rethinking traditional playbooks. With streaming now dominating viewing habits, Connected TV (CTV) has become a must-have channel to reach and convert future students.

In 2025, 88% of U.S. households are projected to be CTV households.* And that’s where prospective students are. According to the 2025 MRI-Simmons Cord Evolution Study**, 92% of adults 18+ likely to start or return to school in the next 12 months watch ad-supported OTT —  and 64% of all education intenders can’t be reached via traditional TV or cable.

What’s more, U.S. adults are now spending more time with CTV (2 hours and 35 minutes daily) than traditional TV (2 hours and 29 minutes), with streaming accounting for 51% of total TV time.*** For higher ed marketers, this presents a clear opportunity to reach prospects where they’re already watching—through a channel that offers precision, measurability, and performance.

As a top-of-funnel channel, CTV drives awareness in a high-impact, brand-safe environment—and its performance-driven targeting and measurement influence every stage of the journey. With education decision cycles often spanning weeks or months, many prospective students visit websites to explore programs or compare schools. Pairing CTV with website retargeting—across display, OLV, audio, or even CTV again—creates a powerful full-funnel approach that turns awareness into action and moves students from consideration to enrollment.

And with BIA forecasting $61 million in local OTT education ad spend this year—61% of it from higher ed institutions****—CTV is clearly more than a trend. It’s a proven strategy for making smarter media investments and driving real enrollment outcomes.

Case in Point: Career Training College Drives High-Quality Leads with CTV

Facing stiff competition in the higher ed space, a vocational college partnered with Premion and agency KELLYBRADY to grow enrollment across three markets. The 7-month campaign focused on attracting qualified prospects for its career-focused training programs through targeted CTV outreach.

The results speak for themselves: 7 million impressions, 4,800 attributed website visits, and strong engagement metrics—$8 cost per website visit and $79 cost per lead within 7 days of ad exposure. Customized creative spotlighted each campus’s unique offerings and promoted open houses with QR-enabled ads. With transparent reporting and attribution, Premion helped the college reach a broader, more affluent audience and turn awareness into action.

For higher education advertisers, it’s not just about following the streaming shift to reach their prospective students. By capitalizing on precision targeting, retargeting, and outcomes-based measurement capabilities, they can ensure that their ad dollars are spent wisely — driving enrollment by reaching the right students where they actually are.

Premion is a trusted partner in helping educational institutions drive measurable outcomes—and we've successfully executed thousands of campaigns for leading education brands.

Want more insights? Download our free report, “Streaming TV Trends & Outlook: The Streaming TV Playbook,” for strategies to help your brand thrive in a shifting media landscape.

*EMARKETER; Connected TV (CTV) Households, US, 2025-2029, March 2025. Copyright © 2025 EMARKETER Inc. All Rights Reserved.

**MRI-Simmons, 2025 March Cord Evolution Study; © MRI-Simmons 2025. The data herein derives from a confidential, proprietary syndicated product owned by GfK US MRI, LLC.

***EMARKETER; Average Time Spent per Day with Connected TV (CTV), US, 2023-2027, June 2025; Average Time Spent per Day with TV, US, 2023-2027, June 2025. Copyright © 2025 EMARKETER Inc. All Rights Reserved.

****BIA Advisory Services, August 2025