Higher Ed Ops Consulting

Anastasia Apostol is a higher education operations executive with 13+ years of experience scaling online programs, student success infrastructure, and enrollment systems across some of the most recognized names in EdTech and online learning — including Coursera, Wiley University Services, and AllCampus. She has led operations supporting 30+ university degree programs across three world regions, managed data integrations across 60+ student information systems, and built the cross-functional systems that keep enrollment, retention, academic services, and technology moving together at scale.

What distinguishes Anastasia’s approach is her fluency at the intersection of people, process, and technology. She has co-implemented AI-enabled workflow tools across multi-university environments, built AI governance frameworks that make adoption sustainable rather than experimental, and designed the performance benchmarks that ensure quality doesn’t erode as institutions grow. Her work is grounded in data — and in a genuine commitment to the students those systems are built to serve.

A first-generation college graduate and immigrant who navigated higher education without a roadmap, Anastasia brings both the operational expertise and the lived perspective that make her a trusted partner to institutions committed to access, equity, and student success.

Group Workshops

Half-day Workshop
$1,500

Full-Day Workshop
$3,000

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General Consulting Rates*

Technology / Systems Consulting
$200 / hour

Strategy & Operations Consulting
$120 / hour

Design Thinking Sessions
$80 / hour

Training Sessions
$80 / hour

Post-Implementation Support
$50 / hour

*NOTE: All rates above are general estimates and are subject to change based on the scope of the project. The official rate of the project will be determined at the time of contract signing, after the initial FREE consultation.

Higher Ed Ops Consulting LLC

Passion for Process | Geared for Growth | Empowering People

If you are interested in engaging me for any of my services, please schedule a free 30-minute discovery call below.

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Group Workshops

Bring your team a hands-on, practitioner-led session on the strategies that actually move the needle — from AI-enabled workflow optimization and data-driven decision making to communication, problem solving, and cross-functional collaboration. Drawing from real implementation experience across multi-university environments, I’ll show your team not just what AI can do, but how to embed it into your existing workflows in ways that scale your capacity without sacrificing the quality of your student experience. Every session is customized to your team’s challenges and designed so participants walk away with frameworks they can apply immediately.

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General Consulting Services

AI Implementation and Workflow Optimization

This is where the most significant capacity gains live — and where most institutions are leaving performance on the table. I’ll identify where AI can be embedded into your enrollment, student success, and operations functions, and build the governance frameworks, staff training structures, and performance benchmarks that make adoption sustainable rather than just a pilot that fades. I’ve co-implemented AI-enabled engagement tools — including automated outreach platforms and behavioral data systems — across multi-university environments, and I’ve built the accountability infrastructure that ensures quality doesn’t erode as you scale. You’ll walk away with a clear AI roadmap, a governance model your leadership can stand behind, and a team that knows how to use it.

CRM Infrastructure & Data Strategy

A well-configured CRM doesn’t just store data — it tells you where your institution is healthy and where it isn’t. I’ll assess your current system, close the gaps between your data and your decision-making, and identify where AI can surface insights, automate reporting, and flag risk before it becomes attrition. I’ll build the KPI infrastructure your leadership team actually needs to make confident, data-driven decisions at scale. Platforms I’ve worked with include Salesforce, EAB Navigate, Ellucian, and ServiceNow.

Enrollment Strategies

Your enrollment infrastructure should be working as hard as your admissions team. I’ll conduct a comprehensive audit of your current admissions process — pipeline management, prospect engagement, conversion strategy, and automation opportunities — and identify where AI can reduce manual lift, accelerate outreach, and improve the consistency of your prospect experience at scale. You’ll receive a clear, prioritized action plan with implementation support available.

Retention Strategies

Retention isn’t a program — it’s an operational system. I’ll assess your current retention infrastructure, identify where students are disengaging and why, and build a data-informed intervention framework that moves your institution from reactive to proactive. That includes identifying where AI-enabled tools can automate early alerts, personalize outreach, and free your advisors to focus on the students who need human intervention most. The goal is measurable persistence improvements without adding headcount.

Degree Planning and Course Scheduling Optimization

Scalable degree sequencing and accurate course demand forecasting are foundational to efficient institutional planning. I’ll work with your team to implement a system that gives you earlier visibility into enrollment projections, instructor-to-student ratios, and section planning — and identify where predictive analytics and AI-assisted modeling can make those projections faster and more accurate over time. The result is smarter staffing decisions, fewer under-enrolled sections, and stronger retention outcomes downstream.

Post-Graduate Student Infrastructure

Your alumni are your most underutilized asset. I’ll help you build the infrastructure for post-graduation engagement — referral pipelines, remarketing strategies, alumni community development, and employability pathways — and identify where AI-enabled personalization can keep your graduates connected and converting into long-term institutional advocates at a scale your team can actually sustain.

Optimize your University Operations

Scaling online programs without losing quality is an operational problem as much as an academic one. I’ll partner with your team on the infrastructure that makes online programs perform — student success models, SIS integrations, third-party vendor management, orientation design, and the cross-functional alignment that keeps enrollment, academics, and student services moving together. Critically, I’ll help you identify where AI can be layered into your online student experience to deliver personalized, timely support at a scale your team couldn’t sustain manually — without the student ever feeling like they’re talking to a system instead of a person.

Innovate on the Student Experience

Building engaging orientation courses, facilitating strong online learning communities to promote intrinsic motivation and high completion rates, as well as implementing a multi-tiered system to empower quick response times and white-glove service are just some of the few innovative ideas I’ve supported / led / implemented in my tenure. Let’s discuss what’s possible for you and your institution — whether it’s ideas you may have come up with and could use support with implementation or opening up the floor to generate new ideas and to execute. And with the advent of AI, there is so much room to innovate in the Edtech space; let’s partner together to BE the difference we want to see!

Design Thinking Sessions

structured Design Thinking sessions that help your team ask better questions, surface assumptions, and generate innovative solutions to your most complex operational challenges — including how and where to responsibly introduce AI into your workflows. These sessions are particularly effective for teams navigating change, launching new programs, or rethinking student-facing services in an AI-enabled environment.

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1-on-1 Coaching

Interested in more personal advice / support? Check out Advice For Young Pros coaching services page for more information.

NOTE: Advice for Young Pros (A4YP) is a coaching and content brand operated by Higher Ed Ops Consulting LLC.

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