Didn’t hit your 2024 graduate enrollment goals? You’re not alone.

Nearly one-third of surveyed graduate enrollment management (GEM) professionals said their programs did not meet fall 2024 headcount goals. Meanwhile, 23% did not meet their net tuition revenue (NTR) targets, and 34% weren’t even sure if they did or didn’t. But these enrollment struggles aren’t just due to increasing external pressures like the rise of nonconsumption and the demographic cliff. Internal misalignment—between leadership and marketing and enrollment staff, and between marketing strategies and student priorities—is creating challenges for graduate programs and impacting enrollment.

To better understand these concerns, our Adult Learner Recruitment team partnered with NAGAP to survey graduate enrollment staff. Here are three reasons graduate programs may not be achieving their goals and strategies to turn things around, based on the survey data.

1. Institutions are setting bigger goals—but are they achievable?

Many graduate programs struggled to hit their enrollment targets, including 39% of respondents from private instutions and 27% from public institutions. Despite this, over half of survey respondents said their 2024 enrollment goals still increased. Online and hybrid programs are feeling the most pressure, with 73% and 59% of staff, respectively, reporting increased headcount targets in 2024 compared to the previous year.

But are these growing goals realistic? Nearly 30% of surveyed GEM professionals think their enrollment targets are set too high. As our survey shows, unrealistic expectations can lead to stress and burnout, which in turn impacts staff retention, making it even harder to meet next year’s goals.

What can you do?

Despite the growing attention on graduate enrollment, the often-decentralized nature of graduate programs, lack of clear decision-makers, and limited student and market data can make it difficult to set smart enrollment goals. Consider the following strategies to improve your team’s goal-setting processes.

2. Staff input matters more than you think.

When enrollment staff have a say in setting goals for their graduate programs, they’re more likely to hit them. It sounds obvious, but the data proves it: 65% of those with significant input on their targets met or exceeded their headcount goals, compared to just 48% of those who had no say at all. The gap is even wider when it comes to revenue—58% of staff with meaningful input on revenue goals hit their NTR targets, while only 17% of those with no input did.

Despite this, nearly a quarter of GEM professionals report having zero involvement in goal setting, with less-experienced staff most likely to be left out. That’s a missed opportunity. Diverse perspectives—especially from those on the front lines of student recruitment—can lead to more realistic and achievable targets.

What can you do?

Involving a variety of people in the goal-setting process means goals are not created in a vacuum and more people are bought-in to activities required to meet goals. Consider the following strategies to effectively involve staff in determining enrollment and NTR goals.

3. Graduate marketers may be missing the mark on student motivations

What do students really want from graduate school? According to GEM professionals, it’s all about career advancement and higher salaries. While those are certainly big factors, students themselves paint a more nuanced picture. Many say their top motivators include pursuing their passions and interests, learning new information, and making an impact on society.

Explore the Full Insights from EAB’s Survey of 6,000+ Graduate and Adult Learners

This disconnect has the potential to lead GEM professionals to miss opportunities to connect with students on their deeper motivations. Marketing messages and recruitment strategies that focus solely on financial and career benefits may fail to resonate fully with prospective students and leave them feeling less confident in, and inspired by, your program.

What can you do?

Every adult learner has unique motivations, expectations, and preferences. To craft emails, social media ads, and other content that will resonate with prospective students, graduate staff need to understand their prospects’ values, preferences, and motivators and incorporate them in their messaging. Consider the following strategies to improve your team’s use of student preferences throughout the recruitment process.

Graduate programs don’t operate in a vacuum. Their success depends on realistic expectations from leadership, buy-in from staff, and alignment between marketing messages and student priorities. Institutions that set achievable goals, engage their teams in decision-making, and refine their messaging to better connect with students will be the ones that come out ahead in an increasingly competitive landscape.