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Resources for Marketing Graduate Degree Programs
John McNutt
Times are Tough. Sadly, Higher Education is facing an enrollment crisis. The demographic cliff is real and starting now. Fewer kids coming out of high school, fewer of those going to colleges and those that do are interested in a tiny range of majors. The looming demographic cliff is affecting the entire country and hitting the Northeast and Midwest harder. Colleges are closing and merging. This alone doesn't necessarily mean that graduate enrollment will decrease, but it would hardly be surprising. There are other threats as well. Changes in the job market, the escalating cost of higher education, disenchantment with higher education and evolving governmental policy are all of concern. Then there are questions about the over supply of graduates and competition from other programs. Understanding your current and potential markets is important.
Attention to marketing and recruiting is a good idea at any rate. It helps with other aspects of the program and there is value in getting the students that you want as opposed to those who find your program by accident. It is hard work, but effort worth doing. At the very least, taking the effort to understand your market and address the changes that are occuring can make your program more responsive and healthier.
I have found that professional marketing is generally better than you can do on your own. Having said that, It might not be in your budget. Fortunately there is advice on websites throughout the Internet. These are some resources that I find useful. Many are produced by professional marketing organizations, Some come from universities. Having said that I can't recommend any particular service. You need to do your own research.
Hechinger (https://hechingerreport.org/) EAB (www.eab.com) Hanover (https://www.hanoverresearch.com/) and Higher Ed Drive (https://www.highereddive.com/) have excellent newsletters
Books and Articles on Marketing Higher Education (Not Exhaustive)
Flannery, T. (2021). How to market a university: Building value in a competitive environment. JHU Press.
Ford, C. R., Ingalsbe, K., & Hanvey, A. (2024). Graduate program collaborations to identify and cultivate graduate enrollment best practices. New Directions for Higher Education, 2024(205), 59-74.
Gambhir, S., & Sharma, D. A. A Systematic Review of Digital Marketing Strategies in Higher Education Institutions. Available at SSRN 5215387.
Gates, T. G., Heffernan, K., & Sudore, R. (2015). Social work students as market consumers: Faculty perceptions of customer service expectations. Social Work Education, 34(7), 881-894.
Hung, N. T., & Yen, K. L. (2022). Towards sustainable internationalization of higher education: Innovative marketing strategies for international student recruitment. Sustainability, 14(14), 8522.
Joyner, M. C. (2005). Proactively Marketing Social Work Education and the Social Work Profession. Journal of Baccalaureate Social Work, 10(2).
Koku, P. S. (2022). Marketing higher education: understanding how to build and promote the university brand. Routledge.
Kotler, P., & Fox, K. F. (1995). Strategic marketing for educational institutions. Prentice Hall.
Kuchner, M. J. (2012). Marketing for scientists: how to shine in tough times.
Island Press.
Michel, R. S., Belur, V., Naemi, B., & Kell, H. J. (2019). Graduate admissions practices: A targeted review of the literature. ETS Research Report Series, 2019(1), 1-18.
Menifield, C., Estorcien, V., Ndongo, J. C., Quispe, M. P., & McDonald III, B. D. (2024). Retention and recruitment of minority students and faculty in public affairs and administration programs. Journal of Public Affairs Education, 30(1), 97-117.Oplatka, I., & Hemsley-Brown, J. (2021). A systematic and updated review of the literature on higher education marketing 2005–2019. Handbook of operations research and management science in higher education, 35-80.
Ozturgut, O. (2013). Best practices in recruiting and retaining international students in the US. Current Issues in Education, 16(2).
Spanjaard, D., Garlin, F., & Mohammed, H. (2023). Tell me a story! Blending digital storytelling into marketing higher education for student engagement. Journal of Marketing Education, 45(2), 167-182.
Resources (Also Not Exhaustive)
Evaluating the ROI of Enrollment Efforts in Graduate Student Recruitment Pruitt RNL
Graduate students are changing – are your recruitment
tactics keeping up?
How to Recruit Graduate Students: A Playbook for
Enrollment Success
Abu Noaman
Reimagining Graduate Student Recruitment: 4 Tips to Get Started. Micaela Lenhart Blackbaud
Marketing Research
Social Media
Effective Social Media Strategies to Dive Enrollment for Schools Higher Education Marketing
How to Use LinkedIn for
Effective Graduate Student Recruitment
Community Partnerships
Community Partnerships Playbook University of Michigan Ford School by Madison Cutler, Erin Keith, Molly Kleinman, Marita Ky, Yvonne Navarrete, Kaci Pellar, Divya Ramesh, Eric Welsby (This is a great resource)
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