Colleges are racing to adapt marketing and admissions strategies as generative AI reshapes how prospective students search for programs. Nearly 80% of degree searchers now consult AI overviews that summarize institutions—often without clicking through to campus websites—pushing schools to invest in answer‑engine optimization and structured content to ensure accuracy in AI summaries. At the same time, a new report on course “shutouts” shows students increasingly blocked from required classes, a bottleneck that adds time and cost to degree completion. Departments and registrars are facing higher demand for core seats even as staffing and scheduling constraints persist. For enrollment and academic leaders the combined challenge is operational: optimize institutional web presence for algorithmic summaries while fixing schedule‑planning and advising systems to ensure on‑time graduation and preserve yield from an increasingly informed, AI‑led applicant pool.