Why Higher Ed Can’t Ignore Reddit
February 3, 2026 | Liz Gross
Recently, I spoke to student success professionals about the student experience data available through social intelligence. As always, I spent time talking about Reddit and the role it plays, particularly for younger people, in experience sharing, information gathering, and ultimately decision making. After the session I learned that some attendees were uncomfortable with the real-life examples I shared that mentioned their college.
I was surprised by this feedback, not only because I’ve been sharing examples like this in talks for nearly ten years, but also because of the beliefs I presume it reflects:
Reddit content isn’t visible and easy to access.
Their institution was somehow unique in having perfectly adequate, yet not glowing, student experiences shared on the site.
These are severely limiting beliefs for a higher ed administrator, with potentially serious consequences for reputation, enrollment, and fundraising. Reddit is on the rise, and what’s happening there isn’t just a higher ed trend. It’s impacting nearly all verticals.
What You Need to Know About Reddit in 2026
Reddit is more popular than ever. It’s the third most visited website in the United States, behind Google and YouTube. People visit Reddit.com more often than Facebook.com, Instagram.com, or Chatgpt.com. Reddit’s daily active users have nearly doubled in the last two years.
Reddit users trend young. 48% of Americans aged 18 to 29 use Reddit, more than WhatsApp, X, and Threads. Reddit usage increases with household income and education level. Gen Z is 8x more likely to use Reddit than Baby Boomers; the only site with a larger age gap is Snapchat.
Reddit wants to be a search engine. 75 million people search Reddit every week, and that number is rising. In its latest shareholder letter, Reddit describes redesigning the experience around search and a more personalized home feed. Reddit posts are also displayed prominently in Google search results, thanks to a 2024 partnership between the two companies.
Reddit is a reflection of brand experience. Brand experience is how your specific stakeholders experience your brand, what they say about it, and whether or not they believe your brand provides unique value. Students are sharing their stories, and seeking others’, on Reddit more than ever. Over the last decade, the number of Reddit conversations about college admissions has increased over 900%.
Your Story Is Told on Reddit
Universities dedicate significant resources to “telling their story.” What stories can be told, who else will tell them, and how many people they will reach is greatly influenced by your brand equity: the value a brand holds in the minds of consumers.
Reddit influences awareness, perception, and experience. People go to the site to find solutions for their needs, compare options in depth based on consumer feedback, and make decisions. They then return to Reddit to share their experience after they’ve made their choice. It’s all public, and it’s archived indefinitely.
What This Looks Like in Practice
The enrollment, marketing, and communications leaders at a public institution in the Southeast wanted to understand why awareness was lagging for several undersubscribed colleges. Social intelligence insights helped them see the drivers of that lower awareness and identify enrollment marketing opportunities, so the teams could take a united approach to growing awareness of those programs.
How to Assess Brand Equity
Reddit can’t be an afterthought. Paired with social media, news, blogs, and other forums, it gives you a more complete and authentic picture of how your brand shows up in the market. Social intelligence shows how your brand compares to similar institutions, how strongly your own voice shapes perception, which themes you rely on, and how consistent your brand is across channels. Strategic expertise turns those findings into recommendations your team can act on.
If you’re eager to field a brand perception or student experience survey, yet nervous to know what’s said about your institution on Reddit, you’re not adequately assessing brand equity, especially with Gen Z.
The Brand Power Assessment gives you an objective view of how your brand shows up in the marketplace, including on Reddit, with a strategy brief to help your marketing and enrollment teams act on it.
1 Most Visited Websites in the United State, Updated August 2026. SEM Rush. https://www.semrush.com/trending-websites/us/all
2 Americans’ Social Media Use 2025. Pew Research Center. November 20, 2025. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2025/11/20/americans-social-media-use-2025/
3 Letter to shareholders. Q3 2025. Reddit. https://s203.q4cdn.com/380862485/files/doc_financials/2025/q3/Q3-25-Shareholder-Letter.pdf
4 Attracting Students in a Peer-Influenced Market: Divers of College Choice and Value Perception. Campus Sonar 2025. https://info.campussonar.com/2025-research