By Autumn Walden, Editor, AACRAO Connect, Content Strategy Manager, AACRAO
For many adults, their 2026 resolutions and goals may extend beyond the gym or meditation app as more working professionals consider educational and career reinvention. According to Jobs for the Future, adult learners remain a vital postsecondary market with adults age 25 and older making up a significant portion of the college-going population. But according to preliminary fall 2025 data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, graduate enrollment remained essentially flat, rising by only about 0.1% compared to the previous year. Master’s programs saw a slight decline while doctoral enrollments rose modestly—a sign that institutions must strategically address shifting student patterns and preferences, and underscores the enduring importance of strategic enrollment management at the graduate and professional level.
The AACRAO April 2022 Graduate and/or Professional Level Strategic Enrollment Management 60-Second Survey showed that institutions struggle with foundational questions about the structure and ownership of graduate enrollment efforts. Of the 340 respondents, only about 44% reported a centralized graduate enrollment office, and many identified recruitment, limited resources, and a lack of clear goals as top challenges.
Graduate enrollment management does not follow a single blueprint. To move from context to practice, the AACRAO Strategic Enrollment Management Endorsement Program curriculum has long emphasized field visits as a hallmark component. These field visits—now recently extended into a virtual format for the first time—are helping practitioners understand differences in approach. "Our GEM virtual field visit was transformative for participants, revealing both the nuanced complexities and untapped opportunities within graduate enrollment management. The overwhelmingly positive response signals that this session has become essential programming we will offer again," said Dr. Christopher W. Tremblay, Director of the SEM-EP.
What follows are voices that capture both the GEM virtual site visit attendee experience and the host presenter perspective, illustrating how graduate enrollment management comes to life when strategy and lived experience intersect.
On the Virtual Format...
Alyssa Orlando, Ph.D., Senior Director, Graduate and Professional Enrollment, Clark University - Host Presenter: As a presenter, I was struck by how the virtual format encouraged focused, practical questions that deepened the conversation around systems, workflows, and decision-making in graduate enrollment. Preparing for the session required being intentional about translating complex processes into clear, transferable takeaways. I would encourage future presenters to prioritize storytelling about real operational examples over highly polished slides. The experience also prompted valuable reflection on how we document, communicate, and continuously refine our own enrollment practices.
Bettsy McKlaine, Executive Director of Enrollment Management, Neumann University - Host Presenter: Engaging with peers through the virtual format reenergized me and reminded me of why we do the work we do in higher education. Most times, we are preoccupied with our own workloads that we don't get a chance to pause and learn about what others are doing, have done, or want to do. This virtual site visit allowed all of us to step away from our busy schedules and be fully present with one another, gaining helpful insights within GEM and higher ed. I learned that we all have challenges, no matter what institution or role we work in, but having colleagues who are willing to learn what you do and provide feedback, brainstorm, and listen can have a major impact. In a world dominated by technology, relationships and the human element really matter, especially in GEM when there are so many competing priorities.
Joseph H. Paris, Ed.D., Dean, School of Graduate & Professional Studies, Delaware Valley University - Host Presenter: Engaging with colleagues through the virtual site visit reinforced how varied and context-dependent graduate enrollment management structures and strategies can be, even when institutions face similar market pressures. The experience prompted meaningful reflection on where our practices are well-aligned with our institution's strategic goals and mission, and where new directions and strategies could further strengthen the ways in which graduate enrollment management is practiced.
On Immediately Applicable Learning...
Abhinav C. Krishnan, MS, MPH, PhD, Associate Dean for Admissions and Enrollment Management, Assistant Professor - Dept. of Foundational Medical Studies, Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine - Attendee: One immediate takeaway I plan to apply is to intentionally align the admissions, registrar, financial services, and data analytics functions of our department with our undergraduate campus and to increase our data-informed, data-driven approach. Another unique characteristic I saw that would help many graduate institutions was the development of different recruitment strategies: if some institutions are smaller or have a modest budget, they can be more intentional about finding students through targeted digital marketing campaigns rather than allocating funds for costly trips to national conferences and fairs. My advice for someone preparing for a future site visit is to review the host institution’s organizational structure, strategic priorities, and publicly available enrollment data in advance; doing so allows for more focused, higher-level dialogue with these enrollment leaders during the sessions.
Derrell Carter, Chief of Staff, Illinois Central College - Attendee: There are several immediate, practical applications from the AACRAO GEM visit.
We can shift our internal language and strategy from “program enrollment” to “adult learner enrollment.”
The virtual visit reinforced that graduate and advanced-program students behave differently from traditional undergraduate students: they are place-bound, working, outcome-oriented, and risk-averse.
Aligned with the virtual visit, we can reframe conversations with academic leaders and enrollment staff to center on adult learner decision drivers (ROI, time to completion, scheduling flexibility, career mobility). As ICC waits to learn if Illinois community colleges can offer community college baccalaureates, we need to apply lifecycle thinking to how we discuss offerings. We can incorporate early advising, degree mapping, and expectation setting into enrollment conversations (even before formal baccalaureate approval), so internal planning treats persistence as just as important as recruitment.
And we need to treat pathways as the product, not individual programs. That means showing certificates, associate, and future baccalaureate options as connected advancement routes, not discrete credentials.
Mark Hinson, Interim Director of Admissions, West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine - Attendee: This experience provided a unique opportunity to expand my understanding of the graduate enrollment operations. The most immediate opportunities to apply the content I learned focused on:
Enhancing the utilization of the institution's CRM technology.
Developing a more hybrid recruitment strategy.
Improving strategic reporting.
Strengthening these areas will provide the essential foundation to ensure new enrollment goals are met and to prepare the institution for future growth.
On Clarity, Storytelling, and Communication...
Dr. LaTisha Standokes, Executive Director of Admissions, Health Sciences, Arkansas Colleges of Health Education - Attendee: One takeaway for me was learning more about how graduate admissions and enrollment management staff are using institutional and/or departmental dashboards to communicate internally and externally, as well as to streamline data processes and workflows. In my role, this is something I had previously considered and brainstormed about, but I did not have a strong reference point for development and implementation. Following the virtual site visit, I initiated conversations with my admissions staff and established a goal to develop a timeline for creating and implementing one or more departmental dashboards to further strengthen our internal workflow processes, data tracking and management, and resource accessibility.
I prepared for the virtual GEM field visit by reviewing several participating institutions’ websites to learn more about their mission statements, institutional type and size, and geographic locations. This helped me better understand their offerings and identify similarities and differences compared to my current institution. I also kept a dedicated notebook for each session to document notes, questions, and new strategies that could be beneficial to my department and institution.
Sabrina L. Brown, MBA, Ed.D., Director of Graduate Recruitment, UNC Charlotte, The Graduate School - Host Presenter: The questions attendees asked were incredibly thoughtful and pushed the conversation in meaningful ways. Hearing how peers are navigating change management, leadership expectations, and compliance while still centering student success reminded me how shared these tensions really are. The questions raised affirmed how critical leadership clarity and communication are, especially in decentralized environments. It was a helpful reminder that progress doesn’t always come from moving faster, but from being more intentional. The virtual format made it easy for people to engage openly and reflect in real time. It felt less like a presentation and more like a collective learning space.
Hosting the session gave me space to pause and reflect on how often we’re balancing compliance requirements with what we know supports student success. My preparation focused on clarity, storytelling, and intentional framing rather than trying to present every operational detail. I structured the session to show how UNC Charlotte’s decentralized graduate model functions in practice—where responsibilities live, how collaboration happens, and where tension naturally arises. I was also intentional about anticipating moments where peers might see themselves reflected and naming those connections explicitly.
Overall, the experience reinforced the value of reflection as part of sustainable enrollment work. My recommendation for future hosts/presenters is to design sessions with clear takeaways instead of exhaustive process mapping.
On New Connections and Nuance...
Aaron Wilkinson, University Registrar & Chief Academic Administrator, Office of Registration, Roberts Wesleyan University - Attendee: In my role as Registrar at my current institution, this information helped to form a more comprehensive understanding of not only the finer points of GEM, but also how Graduate programs can, and should, be administered in a way that is nearly mutually exclusive from the approach taken for their undergraduate counterparts. Absorbing this nuance was incredibly insightful, informing how I approach broader, cross-functional, strategic conversations about the University's academic portfolio.
Angela L. Montgomery, PhD, Assistant Vice President, Graduate Admissions, Enrollment Management & Student Success, Drexel University - Host Presenter: One of the most important aspects of GEM is our connection to our professional community, and this presentation provided an opportunity for connection, collaboration, and commiseration about the future of GEM. Each of our institutions is so different, and being in settings like these reminds us there is no “one way” or “right way” to do things—just great folks working hard to support graduate students from all walks of life across thousands of different institutions. Taking time to reflect together on what is working (or not) for us is time well spent.
Maria Cristina Larsen, M.A., Dean of Enrollment Services, Registrar, Everett Community College, Enrollment Services - Attendee: I took a chance on the virtual visit as it was Graduate Enrollment Management, and I work in the Undergraduate level. I’m so glad I did, as I was able to walk away with foundational knowledge that crosses all levels of higher ed through two sessions that inspired me to look at how my teams access and use data, with takeaways on:
Knowing how to access data.
Making sure teams know how to understand data.
Leveraging institutional strengths to attract the students who need to be there.