Beyond the Help Desk: How ServiceNow Is Reshaping the Entire Higher Education Experience
A practical guide for CIOs and technology leaders navigating enrollment decline, retention challenges, and the mandate to do more with less.
This white paper is for higher education technology leaders who are asking hard questions about their institutional technology strategy. Inside, you’ll find:
- The enrollment reality check. Undergraduate enrollment is down 8% from its peak, and the demographic cliff starts now. How platform-driven enrollment strategies are helping institutions compete.
- The $10 million retention gap. Why 8–10% of first-year students never return, and how connected data and early intervention workflows can change that trajectory.
- The alumni engagement paradox. Giving hit $58B in 2023, but the donor base is narrowing. How personalized, data-driven engagement reignites alumni participation.
- The case for platform consolidation. 83% of institutions want to streamline operations. Why ServiceNow—the platform most campuses already run for IT—is the answer to point solution sprawl.
AI built into the platform. How ServiceNow’s Now Assist brings conversational AI, intelligent search, and agent-facing recommendations to students and staff—natively, not as a bolt-on.
Who this is for
This white paper was written for CIOs, CTOs, VPs of IT, and technology leaders at colleges and universities who are navigating the intersection of shrinking budgets, rising expectations, and aging technology architectures. Whether your institution already runs ServiceNow, is evaluating new platforms, or is facing a reimplementation cycle with an existing vendor—this paper will give you a new lens on what’s possible.
About Bettera
Bettera is a ServiceNow consulting and implementation firm focused exclusively on higher education. We don’t treat higher ed as a vertical alongside manufacturing and financial services. It’s our entire focus. Our AI-native delivery model means faster implementations, lower costs, and higher-quality outcomes. We partner with institutions to deliver value iteratively—starting with high-impact use cases and expanding from there.