The Six Imperatives of a Graduate Enrollment Management Plan

Presented by Beth Donaldson, EAB

Reported by Chad Baker, Millersville University

Beth Donaldson began with information provided by EAB and their research into understanding the strategic enrollment management imperative. What was found is that pandemic-fueled growth has slowed much more quickly than in previous recession-driven years. Additionally, online enrollments have increased while face-to-face enrollments have declined. The one constant: administrators unanimously across the board have graduate and adult enrollment as a high or moderate priority. They hope to achieve this through higher admissions goals and to build new programs.

To achieve these new goals and higher expectations, GEM professionals need to find a new approach to enrollment. That is where the six elements come into play:

1. Internal and External Environmental Scan – Use quantitative data points, such as enrollment numbers, student-to-faculty ratios, graduate rates, etc. and qualitative data points like questionnaires to key stakeholders, faculty reviews, and student satisfaction surveys to serve as the basis for your plan.

2. Program development – When possible, consider what is the program’s market viability, what is the program’s modality, and what are the program’s competitive advantages.

3. Marketing and Recruitment – Ensure your marketing is responsive to student behavior, take advantage of a multitude of campaign channels, develop datadriven and personalized content, and use consistent and frequent messaging. It is important to recognize that 20% of your audience are Gen. X, 20% are Gen. Z and the remainder are Millennials.

4. Tuition and financial aid – Develop a curriculum model for continuous enrollment and faculty scheduling. Regardless of the curriculum model for enrollment, institutions should remove unnecessary financial burdens to increase new tuition revenue.

5. Student Success and Retention – Prioritize support services to shore up graduate student success. Focusing on stop out students should be a priority in determining where support is directed.

6. Faculty and Resources – Determine all desired expenses and income and determine what is feasible to maintain over time. Planning out various scenarios allows for best and worst case overviews.

Key Final Takeaways

1. Graduate enrollment growth is not guaranteed.

2. A GEM plan is necessary to achieve enrollment growth.

3. Take the vision, mission, and strategic initiatives of the institution into account.

4. To create an effective GEM plan, ensure you have the following in place: a. Upper administration support b. A holistic vision for the institution c. A data-informed system d. The opportunity to modify the plan to best meet the requirements of all stakeholders n