
The education industry is rapidly changing. From ChatGPT to online classes, managing schools and universities has never been more difficult.
Enter HubSpot.
Whether you're running admissions, coordinating outreach, or managing alumni relationships, HubSpot helps streamline communication, automate processes, and organize everything in one place. Here's how education institutions can get the most out of the platform, without needing a tech degree to make it work.
Need help getting started? Let our HubSpot Onboarding and Technical Consulting teams do the heavy lifting.
Getting Started with HubSpot for Education: Portal Setup Guide
Choosing the Right HubSpot Plan for Education Institutions
If you're new to HubSpot, start by creating an account with your institution's email address. Education and nonprofit discounts are available, and you can choose from Starter, Pro, or Enterprise depending on your complexity and goals.
Starter is great for basic CRM and email needs. Pro and Enterprise unlock more automation, customization, and reporting power, especially useful for institutions with multiple campuses or departments.
How to Customize HubSpot for Education Institutions
Start by making the platform your own. Set your branding, input your school’s contact info, and start building the structure around your unique needs.
First Things to Configure in Your HubSpot for Education Portal:
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Brand assets like your logo, colors, and domain
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Custom properties for education-specific data (Student ID, Grade Level, Program, Enrollment Status, Parent Contact)
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Custom Objects (available on Pro+ plans) to track Programs, Campuses, Faculty, or even Dorm Assignments
This foundation makes it easier to scale and personalize your outreach later.
Already using another system? Our HubSpot Migrations and HubSpot Integrations will move and sync your data without breaking a thing.
Using HubSpot for Education Teams: Roles, Permissions, and Access
HubSpot isn’t a one-size-fits-all login. You can control who sees what and ensure each team only accesses what they need.
Setting Permissions and Roles in HubSpot for Education Teams
Admins need full access to manage integrations, workflows, and data across the system.
From there, you can create customized views for:
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Admissions teams, who handle prospective student journeys
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Student Success or Academic Advising, who track current student engagement
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Faculty, who may need visibility into students in their courses
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Marketing or Communications, responsible for parent updates, newsletters, or alumni outreach
Organize Teams in HubSpot for Education Departments
Create Teams inside HubSpot like "Admissions," "Alumni Relations," or "Parent Communications" to group users and manage shared assets like dashboards or templates. It’s an easy way to ensure everyone stays in their lane.
Managing Contacts in HubSpot for Education: Students, Parents, and Alumni
HubSpot’s CRM helps you keep people organized by name, and also by where they are in their journey with your institution.
Use Smart Properties in HubSpot for Education CRM Organization
Use HubSpot’s custom properties to track things like:
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Grade level or academic year
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Enrollment status (prospective, current, alumni)
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Program or major
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Guardian contact and relationships
With associations, you can link students to parents, advisors, and even specific academic departments.
How to Segment Contacts in HubSpot for Education Campaigns
Not everyone needs the same message. HubSpot’s lists and segments help you group contacts by lifecycle stage, engagement level, or specific interests.
A few common segments to create:
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Prospective students by lead source or application status
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Current students by academic standing or extracurriculars
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Parents by student year or volunteer history
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Alumni by graduation year, donation status, or region
These segments power smarter, more personalized emails, workflows, and reporting.
HubSpot for Education Admissions: Automate and Track Enrollment
Admissions is one of the most process-heavy parts of any school. HubSpot helps turn that chaos into a smooth, trackable journey.
Creating a HubSpot Admissions Pipeline for Education Workflows
Use deals or tickets to create a visual pipeline that shows where each prospective student stands.
Here’s a sample setup:
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Inquiry received
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Application started
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Application submitted
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Interview scheduled
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Decision made
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Enrollment confirmed
Each stage can trigger automated emails, task assignments, or internal alerts so nothing slips through the cracks.
Automating Communication in HubSpot for Education Admissions
Workflows are your best friend here. Set them up to:
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Send confirmation emails after inquiries or application submissions
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Remind students to finish applications
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Automate interview scheduling with tools like Calendly
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Send personalized admissions decisions and next steps
You can even notify your team when a high-priority lead hits a key milestone.
Auto-Logging in HubSpot for Education: No More Manual Notes
Every call, email, note, and meeting is automatically tracked in a contact's timeline. No more chasing down spreadsheets or buried email threads.
Using HubSpot for Education Alumni Engagement and Fundraising
Alumni relationships are about more than annual fund appeals. HubSpot helps you stay in touch and build real connection over time.
Using HubSpot for Education Newsletters and Dynamic Content
Use dynamic content and smart lists to personalize your outreach by graduation year, degree program, or career field. Highlight upcoming reunions, alumni success stories, and ways to give back.
How to Use HubSpot for Education Events and Alumni Reunions
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Use HubSpot forms to capture RSVPs
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Automate reminders and post-event thank-yous
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Send targeted invites based on class year, geography, or past involvement
Running Fundraising Campaigns with HubSpot for Education
With HubSpot’s segmentation and personalization tools, you can create campaigns that actually resonate, whether you’re reaching out to first-time donors or major gift prospects.
Track engagement and ROI through HubSpot’s campaigns tool, which ties emails, forms, ads, and landing pages together into one reporting view.
HubSpot for Education Reporting and Analytics: What to Track
With HubSpot, you don’t have to guess what’s working, because the data tells you.
Use HubSpot for Education to Track the Enrollment Funnel
Build dashboards to visualize:
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Application-to-enrollment rates
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Average time from inquiry to enrollment
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Stage-by-stage drop-off
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Performance by lead source or program
Monitor Student and Parent Engagement
You can see who’s opening your emails, clicking through to resources, or showing up for events. If you're integrated with your LMS or SIS, you can even track attendance or academic performance trends alongside communication activity.
HubSpot for Education Campaign Reporting and Attribution
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Run A/B tests on email subject lines or CTAs
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Compare performance across email, ads, or social
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Attribute applications, donations, or sign-ups to the right channel
With HubSpot’s latest reporting features, including attribution modeling and multi-touch analytics, you can finally connect your efforts to outcomes.
Why HubSpot for Education Is Worth the Investment
If your team is stuck juggling spreadsheets, clunky systems, or disconnected tools, HubSpot is worth a serious look. It’s built to help you:
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Get more organized
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Save time through automation
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Improve communication with students, parents, and alumni
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Track what’s working and adjust in real-time