The American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO) is pleased to partner with National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) in conducting our first admissions practice survey. Admissions practices evolve over time as the profession matures, the recruitment landscape changes, and new technologies…

In this article, the author analyzed relevant literature focused on the evaluation and holistic admission practices of American graduate programs, including application materials, academic achievement, and non-cognitive variables. This article mainly focuses on the higher education graduate school admission system within the United States after…

Enrollment managers, like most managers, have goals that must be focused on with precision, excitement, and vigor. Enrollment managers must excel at enrollment planning. Typically, enrollment planning unites undergraduate and graduate recruitment plans, out-of-state recruitment plans, marketing plans, retention plans, international enrollment…

Student Enrollment Management (SEM) leaders continually challenge their teams and institutions to implement changes to student systems and processes. Often, these efforts do not go as planned. As institutions scramble to increase enrollments, streamline workflows, and improve the student experience, their success depends on their ability to manage…

This investigation was designed to determine the factors and conditions associated with graduate enrollment management practitioners' participation in professional development (PD) activities. The sample consisted of members of a professional association, the National Association of Graduate Admissions Professionals (NAGAP), focused solely on…

The Challenge: After years of investments on structures and systems that improve and integrate student transactional experiences, we discover that we have neglected to train our staff in customer service competencies that match student expectations. The Answer: Invest in your student service staff to ensure they possess the professional skills to…

Many faith-based liberal arts institutions are tuition-dependent and are forced to compete with both public institutions as well as private for-profit colleges and universities to maintain student enrollment levels. Some faith-based institutions have adopted strategic enrollment management policies and procedures that emulate the best practices…

This article brings attention to a typology of enrollment knowledge possessed and enacted by contemporary chief enrollment officers. Interview narratives are used to reveal enrollment principles and associated actions--enrollment logics--that form enrollment discourses, which in turn shape the institutionalized presence of strategic enrollment…

When one thinks of seminal publications in college admission, the first piece that comes to mind is B. Alden Thresher's "College Admissions in the Public Interest" (1966). Thresher's work, relevant to this day, is credited with being the foundational document of the admission profession. McDonough and Robertson's 1995 study, commissioned by NACAC,…

Interest on the part of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO) Board of Directors in the development of a set of descriptions of the core competencies for AACRAO professions goes back several years, with more active discussion beginning in 2011 under the leadership of AACRAO President Nora McLaughlin. At…

Low student retention and persistence continues to be a major problem within American higher education (Elkins, Braxton, & James, 2000; Kalsbeek & Hossler, 2010; Kezar, 2004; Tinto, 2006-2007). Less is known about the institutional organizational behavior influence on student persistence (Berger, 2001-2002); and while enrollment management…

Your name: F. Stanley Gogettum. Your job: Director of Admissions. Your institution: floundering University. Like all good admissions directors, you constantly ask yourself about your work and its effectiveness. Should you continue high school visits? Should you use Student Search Service, or maybe an unscreened (but perhaps cheaper)…

Using qualitative inquiry and professional socialization as a framework to draw meaning from the work experiences of graduate admissions professionals, this project examines individual beliefs and organizational behaviors as they relate to enrollment management.

Bob Uecker, the Milwaukee Brewers' quipping radio broadcaster, makes his brief and lackluster career as a major league catcher the subject of much of his humor. About catching the knuckleball, Uecker famously said, "I always thought the knuckleball was the easiest pitch to catch." Of course, there is an even better way to catch a knuckleball, and…

On-campus admissions events are the secret weapon that colleges and universities use to convince students to apply and enroll. On-campus events vary depending on the size, location, and type of institution; they include campus visitations, open houses, preview days, scholarship events, admitted student events, and summer yield events. These events…