💻 More than half of college searches are AI enabled. 🌍 Global Skills Week 🇺🇸 25-26 March.
College search is going agentic. Here's what that means for institutions. Global Skills Week starts next Wednesday. Washington D.C., 25–26 March.
Hello 👋
Recent studies show that while just 7% of US students report going directly to AI tools when first researching schools, but over half start in channels already being impacted by AI: search engines returning AI-generated overviews, online resources powered by recommendation engines, and college platforms deploying chatbots and personalised outreach. Many learners (and people) simply do not recognise it when they encounter it.
High School Students' View & Use of AI in College Search
The use cases are broadening. As seen in the HolonIQ by QS College Search and Guidance Market Map, AI tools, many of them agents, now support students across the full search arc, exploring options at their own pace, comparing schools against personal criteria, drafting essays, and navigating application requirements. Another report shows that nearly a quarter of the graduating students use AI in their college search in some form, up from single digits just two years ago. AI is increasingly embedded in the college search journey and that will have an impact on colleges and universities.
US Students' Views and Usage of AI in College Search
The market is responding. Recent funding rounds in college counseling and guidance platforms (Nerd Apply, Graddus) point to growing investor attention in AI-assisted search. With secondary school counselors stretched by oversized caseloads, AI is likely to start filling the gaps, raising real questions for institutions about reach, personalisation, quality and equity.
For a full picture of where the market is heading, explore HolonIQ's College Search and Guidance Market Map. Subscribers can access the full Briefing for deeper analysis.
College Search & Guidance: Market Map
🏛 See you in DC! Register Today for Global Skills Week.
Global Skills Week March 25-26 Washington, D.C. 🇺🇸
Global Skills Week 2026
Two days of sessions, roundtables, and conversations for the people building the skills economy. Check out the agenda.
⭐ AI & Digital Innovation Spotlight
🌐 McGill University and Indian and Canadian institutions signed 13 university agreements that will support joint research, student mobility, and the establishment of a new AI education and research centre in India by 2027.
📚 Elsevier launched Osmosis AI, an AI‑powered study companion that integrates question‑based interaction with visual learning and verified clinical content aligned to U.S. medical licensing exams to support medical student learning and faculty preparation.
🎓 University of Tokyo Launches Program for Generative AI in Education to train educators in using AI through an interactive, free online curriculum that awards a completion certificate to participants.
🤝 Policy & Partnerships
🌐 Ethiopia launched a university AI platform to support homegrown tech innovation by providing infrastructure, research tools, and digital services to coordinate AI research, applications, and collaboration across higher education institutions.
📚 AUF partnered with Coursera to expand online learning in Africa by offering access to Coursera courses, professional certificates, and digital skills pathways to learners across Francophone and Lusophone regions.
🤖 Simplilearn launched an Applied Agentic AI Systems Design & Impact Program with Microsoft to build the next generation of AI product and systems leaders with curriculum aligned to Microsoft AI skills frameworks and industry practice.
💪 Power Moves & Funding
📈 Blackboard has completed a restructuring process that has left it debt-free and with a renewed focus on transformational teaching and learning.
🎯 myFirst, Singapore-based kids technology startup, raised $8M to expand its device and services ecosystem and support international market expansion.
🛡️ AppsAnywhere and LabStats, two companies in the virtual application and desktop delivery space, have merged to form a single organization.
🤖 Perceptyx, an employee experience platform, has acquired Lyceum AI, a learning and development company, to integrate employee experience and learning capabilities.
🏫 Warburg Pincus, a private equity firm, announced the acquisition of Raptor Technologies, a leading provider of school safety software, to expand and accelerate growth.
