A university’s pandemic response is an essential factor in retention and recruitment, with 25% of students who transferred to a new institution stating that the primary reason was their former school’s handling of the pandemic. The changes wrought by lockdowns during the pandemic may help recruiting in the future if we can apply the new working methods and learn from any missteps. Expanding recruitment by utilizing techniques that have evolved during the pandemic requires exploring how marketing and communications can adapt to changing higher education climates now and into the future.