Bringing Graduate Students to Campus and Supporting Their Success: Promoting Enrollment and Retention Through Understanding Student Motives

Graduate student enrollments have fluctuated since the COVID pandemic. Effective strategies for graduate school enrollment are crucial for students to successfully navigate the application process, select the right program, enhance chances for admission, and maximize success during degree completion. In this position paper, we focus on how graduate student recruitment and retention efforts can be improved by better understanding the students’ reasons for making choices. Specifically, we highlight how getting to know what graduate students want before and after they get to campus can provide strategic advantages. Major themes of the paper include addressing diverse professional goals, offering flexible and affordable program options, and investing in support structures that increase student success across graduate study timelines.