6 Best Email Marketing Tools for College Businesses in 2025

Higher education institutions face unique communication challenges in 2025. Between recruiting prospective students, engaging current learners, nurturing alumni relationships, and coordinating with faculty, colleges and universities need robust email marketing solutions that can handle complex campaigns with multiple audiences while delivering personalized experiences at scale.

Email marketing continues to be the most popular communication channel for prospective students during the college application process 55% prefer email to text messages (33%). The education industry also achieves an average email open rate of 28.5% – is among the highest across all sectors – making email marketing an essential tool for enrollment management and student engagement.

This guide compares the best email marketing software for higher education institutions in 2025, including detailed feature breakdowns, pricing information, and recommendations to help you choose the right platform for your college or university.

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What is Email Marketing for Higher Education?

Email marketing for higher education is a strategic communications approach that colleges and universities use to connect with prospective students, current students, alumni, donors, and faculty through targeted email campaigns. Email marketing allows institutions to nurture leads through the enrollment funnel, share important academic updates, promote campus events, and maintain long-term relationships with their community, all while tracking engagement and measuring campaign effectiveness.

Higher Education Email Marketing Tools Comparison Chart

Email marketing tool	Best for	Key Features	Prices	Average rating
HubSpot	Universities are looking for integrated CRM and marketing automation	Free CRM, advanced automation, multi-channel campaigns, robust analytics	Free plan available; Paid plans start at $15/month	4.5/5 (G2)
Mailchimp	Institutions with basic email needs and large contact lists	Drag and drop editor, audience segmentation, pre-built templates	Free for 500 contacts; Paid plans start at $13/month	4.4/5 (G2)
Constant contact	Schools need event management and ticket sales	Event registration tools, social media integration, automated welcome emails	Plans start at $12/month for 500 contacts	4.1/5 (G2)
ActiveCampaign	Colleges requiring advanced automation and CRM capabilities	900+ automation templates, predictive analytics, sales automation	Plans start at $15/month for 1,000 contacts	4.5/5 (G2)
Omnisend	Institutions that focus on e-commerce and course sales	Multi-channel campaigns, e-commerce integrations, SMS marketing	Free for 250 contacts; Paid plans start at $16/month	4.6/5 (G2)
Convened	Canadian universities require CASL compliance	Data stored in Canada, advanced consent management, CASL compliance	Plans start at $69 CAD/month for 2,500 contacts	4.8/5 (Capterra)

Best Email Marketing Software for College Businesses

Understanding the right email marketing platform can transform the way your institution communicates with students, prospects, and stakeholders. Here are the six best solutions tailored to the needs of higher education.

HubSpot

HubSpot is availablest for: Universities are looking for an all-in-one CRM and marketing automation platform with advanced analytics

HubSpot provides higher education institutions with a comprehensive platform that unifies marketing, admissions, and student services processes. The platform enables colleges and universities to engage prospective students, convert inquiries into applications, and nurture relationships throughout the student lifecycle.

Key HubSpot features:

• Free CRM integration – HubSpot offers a free CRM that allows admissions teams to track every interaction with prospective students from initial inquiry to enrollment to ensure no lead falls through the cracks
• Marketing automation workflows – HubSpot automates personalized email sequences based on prospect behavior, enabling institutions to send targeted content at optimal times in the registration process
• Advanced analytics and reporting – HubSpot provides dashboards that track campaign performance, lead sources, and conversion rates so marketing teams can demonstrate ROI and make data-driven decisions
• Landing page and form builder – HubSpot includes tools to create high-converting landing pages for program information, virtual tours, and application launches without requiring technical expertise
• Multichannel campaign management – HubSpot coordinates email, social media, and paid advertising campaigns from a single platform, ensuring consistent messaging across all touchpoints

HubSpot Pricing:

Mailchimp

Best suited for: Institutions with straightforward email marketing needs and large subscriber lists

Mailchimp offers easy-to-use email marketing tools with an extensive library of templates and a straightforward campaign creation process. The platform is aimed at higher education institutions that value user-friendliness and need to manage large contact databases.

Key Mailchimp features:

• Extensive template library – Mailchimp offers hundreds of pre-built email templates suitable for recruiting campaigns, student newsletters, and alumni communications, reducing design time
• Audience segmentation – Mailchimp allows institutions to segment contacts based on demographics, behavior, and engagement history to deliver targeted messages to prospective students, current students, and alumni
• A/B testing features – Mailchimp allows institutions to test subject lines, send times, and content variations to optimize open rates and click-through rates
• Social media advertising integration – Mailchimp creates retargeting ads on Facebook and Instagram based on email campaign data, expanding the reach of potential students across multiple platforms

Mailchimp Pricing:

• Free plan: 500 contacts, 1,000 monthly email sends
• Essentials Plan: Starting at $13/month for 500 contacts (10x contact limit for monthly sends)
• Standard Plan: Starting at $20/month for 500 contacts (12x contact limit for monthly sends)
• Premium Plan: Starting at $350/month for 10,000 contacts (15x contact limit for monthly sends)
• Nonprofit discounts: 15% off annual plans

Constant contact

Best suited for: Colleges and universities that regularly host campus events and require integrated event management

Constant Contact specializes in event marketing tools in addition to traditional email marketing capabilities, making it ideal for institutions coordinating open days, alumni events, webinars, and campus tours.

Important constant contact functions:

• Integrated event registration – Constant Contact allows institutions to create event pages, collect RSVPs, manage attendee lists, and process ticket payments directly within the platform, eliminating the need for third-party event tools
• Automated event reminders – Constant Contact sends automated email reminders to registered participants before events, reducing no-shows for campus tours and information sessions
• Social media post – Constant Contact plans and publishes social media posts across multiple platforms to promote events, programs and campus news in addition to email campaigns
• Customizable email templates – Constant Contact offers themed templates for various occasions, including registration deadlines, scholarship announcements, and academic calendar reminders

Constant Contact prices:

• Lite Plan: $12/month for 500 contacts (basic email marketing and event management)
• Standard plan: $35/month for 500 contacts (includes automation, A/B testing, and segmentation)
• Premium Plan: $80/month for 500 contacts (with SEO tools, ad management, and advanced analytics)
• 30-day free trial available

ActiveCampaign

Best suited for: Institutions that require sophisticated automation workflows and predictive analytics

ActiveCampaign offers advanced marketing automation and CRM capabilities that enable higher education institutions to create complex, behavior-based email sequences that respond to prospects’ actions in real time.

Key ActiveCampaign features:

• 900+ automation workflow templates – ActiveCampaign offers pre-built automation sequences for common college scenarios, including application promotion campaigns, admitted student engagement, and re-enrollment outreach
• Predictive analytics – ActiveCampaign uses machine learning to determine which prospects are most likely to sign up, allowing admissions teams to prioritize outreach to prospects
• Conditional content – ActiveCampaign dynamically changes email content based on recipient attributes such as intended major, interest in campus location, or application status
• Lead scoring – ActiveCampaign assigns prospects points based on engagement behavior such as email opens, website visits, and form submissions, helping admissions counselors identify prospects

ActiveCampaign Pricing:

• Starter plan: $15/month for 1,000 contacts
• Plus Plan: $49/month for 1,000 contacts
• Professional plan: $79/month for 1,000 contacts
• Enterprise plan: $145/month
• 14-day free trial available

Omnisend

Best suited for: Universities with online course sales and e-commerce components

Omnisend focuses on multi-channel marketing automation with strong e-commerce integrations, making it suitable for institutions that sell online courses, professional development programs, or branded merchandise.

Key Omnisend features:

• Multichannel campaigns – Omnisend coordinates email, SMS, and push notifications into unified campaigns, enabling institutions to reach prospective students through their preferred communication channels
• E-commerce platform integrations – Omnisend integrates with Shopify, WooCommerce, and other eCommerce platforms to track online course purchases and trigger relevant follow-up communications
• Abandoned cart recovery – Omnisend automatically sends reminder emails to prospects who have started course registration but have not completed course registrations or merchandise purchases
• Product recommendations – Omnisend suggests related courses or programs to enrolled students based on their purchase history and browsing behavior

Omnisend prices:

• Free plan to send 500 emails/month to up to 250 contacts
• Standard Plan: $11.20/month up to 500 contacts
• Pro Plan: $41.20/month for 2,500 contacts (adds advanced reporting and priority support)
• Pricing tiers with contact list size

Convened

Best suited for: Canadian universities require CASL compliance and data sovereignty

Envoke specializes in supporting Canadian higher education institutions with compliance-focused email marketing that meets the requirements of the Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) while storing data in Canada.

Key Envoke features:

• Automated CASL compliance – Envoke automatically manages consent tracking, opt-in confirmations and opt-out processes to ensure compliance with Canadian anti-spam legislation
• Data is stored in Canada – Envoke hosts all contact data on Canadian servers, meeting data sovereignty requirements for Canadian public institutions
• Cross-departmental management – Envoke allows universities to create separate sub-accounts for different departments while ensuring centralized oversight and brand consistency
• Templates for higher education – Envoke offers email templates specifically designed for college communications, including recruiting, student services, and alumni relations

Envoke Pricing:

• Pro Plan: Starting at $69 CAD/month for 2,500 contacts with unlimited emailing
• Pay-as-you-go option available (save unlimited contacts, pay per email sent)
• Individual prices for larger institutions
• Free migration services from other platforms

Benefits of Email Marketing Software for Higher Education

Email marketing platforms provide measurable benefits that directly support enrollment and student engagement goals.

Optimized registration management

Email marketing software allows institutions to automate prospecting campaigns from inquiry to signup. Universities that use marketing automation track prospective students through each stage of the enrollment funnel and automatically send relevant content based on application status and interests shown. This systematic approach increases conversion rates while reducing manual workload for admissions staff.

Improved personalization at scale

Higher education institutions serve different audiences with different needs – prospective students, graduate students, international applicants, transfer students, alumni and parents each require tailored messaging. Email marketing platforms segment contacts based on dozens of attributes and behaviors, allowing institutions to deliver personalized content to thousands of recipients simultaneously. In one EAB study 202493% of students said receiving a personalized message from a college would encourage them to explore the school further.

Data-driven decision making

Email marketing software provides detailed analytics on campaign performance, including open rates, click-through rates, and conversion metrics. Higher education marketing teams use this data to determine which messages resonate with prospective students, which recruiting channels generate the highest quality leads, and how marketing efforts directly contribute to enrollment numbers. This transparency allows institutions to allocate budgets more effectively and demonstrate marketing ROI to leadership.

Improved alumni engagement

Email marketing platforms help institutions maintain long-term relationships with alumni through targeted communications about networking events, fundraising campaigns, and career opportunities. Automated workflows enable universities to send personalized birthday messages, graduation anniversary emails, and updates on developments in alumni fields of study, strengthening lifelong ties to the institution.

Efficient multi-campus communication

For multi-site university systems or online programs, email marketing software ensures consistent branding while allowing for customization to local audiences. Centralized platforms allow marketing teams to create templates that can personalize individual campuses with location-specific details, events, and program information.

6 Key Features for Higher Education Email Marketing Software

When evaluating email marketing platforms for your college or university, prioritize these essential features.

• Advanced segmentation and targeting: Higher education institutions need to segment their audiences based on several criteria, including prospective and current student status, interest in academic programs, campus location, application stage, engagement level, and demographic factors. Robust segmentation allows admissions teams to send relevant messages to engineering and liberal arts prospects, to college applicants versus graduate school candidates, and to engaged prospects versus those who haven’t opened their recent emails.
• Behavior-based automation: Email automation triggered by specific actions delivers timely, relevant messages that guide prospects through the registration process. Key automation triggers include form submissions, website page visits, email engagement, event registrations, and application milestones. For example, if a prospect downloads a program brochure, automation can trigger a follow-up email series about financial aid, campus life, and application deadlines.
• CRM integration and contact management: Email marketing platforms should integrate seamlessly with student information systems and CRM databases to ensure accurate and up-to-date contact information. This integration allows admissions staff to view prospects’ complete history, including email interactions, website activity, and in-person interactions, in one central location. Bi-directional data synchronization ensures that status changes in SIS automatically update email segments.
• Mobile-optimized templates: With 90% of teachers access email via smartphonesMobile optimization is non-negotiable. Email marketing platforms must automatically adapt layouts, images and text to mobile devices while maintaining visual appeal and functionality. Preview features should show how emails will appear on different devices before sending.
• Robust analytics and reporting: Higher education marketing teams need granular metrics that go beyond basic open and click rates. Essential reports include lead source attribution, conversion tracking across the registration funnel, engagement scoring, A/B test results, and revenue attribution for paid programs. Dashboards should visualize trends over time and allow teams to compare campaign performance across different audiences and time periods.
• Compliance and data security: Email marketing platforms must support privacy regulations such as FERPA, CAN-SPAM, GDPR, and CASL. Features should include consent management, automated opt-out processing, data encryption, and audit trails. For institutions that are subject to special data sovereignty requirements, platforms must offer appropriate data storage locations.

How to Choose an Email Marketing Tool for Higher Education (Step by Step)

Choosing the right email marketing platform requires careful evaluation of your institution’s specific needs and growth plans.

Step 1: Map your workflows.

Document all email communications your institution currently sends, including prospective student development campaigns, current student updates, alumni newsletters, event promotions, and internal communications. Identify which workflows are manual or automated, where bottlenecks occur, and which messages drive the most engagement. This evaluation shows which platform features provide the most benefit.

Step 2: Identify must-have features.

List the essential features your institution needs, such as: E.g. CRM integration, automation complexity, depth of segmentation, event management, SMS functions or analysis expertise. Determine which systems the email platform needs to integrate with, including your student information system, admissions CRM, event management tools, and payment processors. Prioritize features that directly support enrollment goals or significantly reduce employee workload.

Step 3: Compare usability and team suitability.

Evaluate how intuitive each platform is for your team’s skill level. Request demos or trials to test the email builder, automation workflow builder, and reporting interface. Consider whether your team needs extensive training or can start using the platform immediately. Evaluate whether the platform requires technical expertise or offers drag-and-drop visual interfaces that are accessible to non-technical users.

Step 4: Calculate costs at scale.

Look beyond starting prices to estimate costs as your contact database grows. Consider the number of contacts you’ll be managing in one to two years, expected email sending volume, additional features you may need down the road, and costs for add-ons like SMS marketing or premium support. Some platforms charge based on contacts, while others charge based on email sends. Find out which pricing model suits your usage behavior better.

Step 5: Choose a flexible platform – like HubSpot.

Choose a platform that can grow as your institution grows and adapt to evolving communications strategies. HubSpot enables universities to do this Centralize marketing, admissions and student services processes in a powerful CRM platform. The University of Wyoming leveraged HubSpot’s flexible platform to grow from simple email campaigns to sophisticated marketing automation that increased lead volume by 26% and conversion rates by 18% year-over-year, while delivering the data-driven insights needed to justify marketing investments to executives.

How to Create Email Marketing Campaigns for Higher Education

Developing effective email campaigns requires strategic planning and thoughtful implementation.

Define your campaign goals and target group.

Set specific, measurable goals for each campaign, such as: For example, increasing information session registrations by 20%, improving application completion rates by 15%, or driving 500 potential students to specific landing pages. Identify the exact audience segment to target the campaign, including characteristics such as prospective undergraduates versus graduate students, specific program interests, geographic regions, and current stage of enrollment.

Develop compelling subject lines and preview copy.

Create subject lines that clearly communicate value and create urgency without resorting to spam trigger words. Incorporate personalization tokens such as the recipient’s name, desired program, or application deadline. Write preview text that complements the subject line by providing additional context or reinforcing the call to action. Test multiple subject line variations to see which approaches get the highest open rates among higher education audiences.

Design mobile-responsive email templates.

Create email templates with single-column layouts that adapt seamlessly to mobile screens. Use a clear hierarchy with prominent headings, concise body copy and obvious call-to-action buttons. Limit image file size to ensure fast loading on mobile devices. Preview emails across multiple devices and email clients before sending to ensure proper playback.

Personalize content based on recipient data.

Use merge fields to insert recipient-specific information, including name, desired program, campus location, and application status. Implement conditional content that displays different sections based on recipient attributes, such as: B. displaying study-specific information for prospective students and details about the graduate program for prospective students. Reference previous interactions such as “Thank you for taking our virtual tour” or “We noticed that you downloaded our financial aid guide.”

Create clear calls to action.

Include a single, prominent call-to-action that aligns with your campaign goal, e.g. E.g., “Register for an information session,” “Complete your application,” or “Schedule a campus visit.” Use action-oriented button text that creates urgency. Make sure CTA buttons are large enough to be easily tapped on mobile devices and use contrasting colors that stand out from the surrounding content.

Plan strategic shipping times.

Analyze historical email engagement data to determine when your audience most often opens and clicks on emails. For university audiences: Prospective students check their email multiple times a day, with 88% checking at least once a day. Consider sending emails on weekday afternoons when prospective students are reviewing study information, or on weekend mornings when they have more time to engage with content.

Monitor performance and optimize future campaigns.

Track key metrics including open rates, click-through rates, conversion rates, and unsubscribe rates. Compare the performance of different audience segments to find out which messages resonate with which groups. A/B testing variables like subject lines, send times, email length, and CTA placement. Use insights from each campaign to refine future messaging and improve overall effectiveness.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best email marketing tool for higher education?

HubSpot offers the most comprehensive solution for higher education institutions looking to integrate marketing, admissions, and CRM functions into one platform. HubSpot offers free CRM functionality, advanced marketing automation, robust analytics, and seamless integration with student information systems. The University of Wyoming increased lead volume by 26% and improved conversion rates to 18% using the HubSpot platform, demonstrating measurable ROI for enrollment marketing efforts.

What features should I look for in higher education email marketing tools?

Key features include advanced audience segmentation to target different types of prospects, behavior-based automation triggered by actions such as form submissions or website visits, CRM integration to manage complete prospect data, mobile-optimized templates to reach prospects on smartphones, detailed analytics to measure campaign effectiveness and compliance tools to manage consent and privacy. Other valuable features include event management capabilities, SMS marketing for multi-channel campaigns, and A/B testing to optimize message performance.

Is HubSpot good for higher education?

HubSpot stands out for higher education institutions because it combines marketing, admissions, and student services operations into one integrated platform. Five graduate schools at the University of San Diego replaced Salesforce with HubSpot, saving admissions teams 2-4 hours per week through automated workflows and streamlined processes. HubSpot’s free CRM tier makes it accessible to smaller institutions, while enterprise features support large university systems. Using the platform’s reporting capabilities, marketing teams can demonstrate ROI by tying advertising spend directly to enrolled students, which is critical to ensuring ongoing budget support.

How much does higher education email marketing software cost?

Pricing for higher education email marketing software varies significantly depending on contact list size, feature requirements, and send volume. Entry-level plans start at around $12-15 per month for 500 contacts with basic features. Mid-range plans with automation and advanced segmentation cost between $35 and $80 per month for 500 contacts. Enterprise solutions for large universities with tens of thousands of contacts can exceed $3,600 per month. Many platforms, including HubSpot, offer free plans with limited features, and many providers offer educational discounts to accredited institutions. Evaluate the total cost of ownership including possible overages, additional features and integration costs.

What are the best practices for email marketing in higher education?

Successful email marketing in higher education prioritizes personalization based on prospect interests and application stage, uses automation to deliver timely messages at critical enrollment decision points, segments audiences to ensure relevance, optimizes for mobile devices where most emails are opened, includes clear calls to action that drive prospects to the next steps, tests subject lines and content variations to improve performance, monitors privacy compliance, and measures ROI by tracking conversions from inquiry to enrollment. With 55% of prospective students preferring email communication during the application process, maintaining consistent, valuable email touchpoints throughout enrollment has a significant impact on enrollment decisions.

Meet HubSpot, the leading email marketing software for higher education businesses

HubSpot offers higher education institutions the most comprehensive marketing, admissions and CRM platform to attract prospective students, nurture leads throughout the enrollment journey, and maintain lifelong relationships with students and alumni.

Why HubSpot excels for higher education:

• Unified CRM and marketing automation – HubSpot consolidates all prospect and student information into one database, enabling seamless coordination between marketing campaigns and admissions efforts while providing complete transparency in every interaction from initial inquiry to completion
• Free tier with powerful features – HubSpot offers a free CRM with email marketing capabilities for up to 2,000 sends per month, landing pages, and forms, making sophisticated marketing tools accessible to institutions of all sizes
• Scalable platform that grows with institutions – HubSpot supports everything from small liberal arts colleges to large university systems with enterprise-class features including advanced automation, predictive analytics, and multi-campus management

Proven results in higher education:

The University of Wyoming Using HubSpot’s marketing automation and analytics, we increased lead volume by 26% and increased conversion rates to 18% year-over-year. The university used HubSpot’s dashboard capabilities to show leadership how marketing investments directly impacted enrolled students.

Five graduate schools at the University of San Diego replaced their previous CRM with HubSpot and saved admissions teams two to four hours per week through automated email sequences and optimized event management. At the same time, they gained insight into the engagement of potential customers, which enabled personalized consultation appointments.

University College Dublin Vocational Academy Using HubSpot, the company grew its revenue from zero to eight figures in three years and doubled its close rate from 10% to 20% by leveraging data-driven insights and streamlined communications processes enabled by HubSpot.

Ready to see how HubSpot can transform your institution’s email marketing and enrollment management? Get started with HubSpot today Experience the platform that helps higher education institutions attract more qualified prospects, convert more applicants, and show leadership clear marketing ROI.