2026 Pre-Summit Institute

(This is an optional event offered at an additional cost of $300 for NAGAP members and $325 for non-members. You can sign up for this with your Summit registration.)

Intended Audience: Graduate enrollment management professionals, including VPEMs, Directors of Enrollment, Directors/VPs of Admissions, Enrollment Marketing Professionals

Description: After decades of steady expansion, graduate enrollment is now slowing – dramatically. Federal policy changes, volatile international demand, intensifying competition, and the looming demographic cliff are reshaping the market. This workshop will equip graduate enrollment management professionals with data and insights to navigate these market shifts. Participants will explore emerging graduate enrollment trends, uncover how prospective students’ preferences and decision-making behaviors are changing, and learn a proven framework for differentiating their programs in a crowded market. Through discussion, Q&A, and hands-on exercises, attendees will leave with research-backed tools to refine their enrollment strategies and position their institution for long-term success.

Learning Objectives: Across three interactive sessions, attendees will:
 

The State of the Union: Unpacking Trends in the Graduate Enrollment Landscape | Beth Donaldson

Attendees will explore EAB’s latest research on trends in graduate enrollment, including the impact of federal policy changes on international enrollment and financial aid; demographic and population shifts, and trends among the institutions experiencing the most graduate enrollment growth.
Interactive Elements: Through polls and group discussion, this session will provide ample opportunities for attendees to reflect on and share how these trends are unfolding on their campuses, as well as to exchange strategies for navigating market challenges. Q&A will be woven throughout the session.

Decoding the Graduate and Adult Student Mindset: Key Insights from Our Survey of 8,000+ Students | Todd Heilman 

This session will unpack key insights from EAB’s new survey of more than 8,000 prospective graduate students. Attendees will hear findings related to students’ changing search and application behaviors and evolving expectations.
Interactive Elements: Attendees will complete a brief “scavenger hunt” to assess if critical pages on their graduate program webpages include the information prospective students value most, based on our survey findings. This session will also include discussion prompts throughout, with ample opportunities for Q&A with EAB experts and their peers.

Differentiating Your Graduate Programs in a Crowded Market | Val Fox

In today’s competitive graduate market, establishing your institution’s unique value proposition is more important than ever. EAB experts will guide attendees through the process of identifying and articulating their graduate programs’ differentiators—qualities that resonate with their target audience, are difficult for competitors to replicate, and can be proven to the market.
Interactive Elements: In this workshop-style session, attendees will complete a three-part exercise to identify and articulate the unique value drivers for their graduate programs. Participants will then pair up to evaluate each other’s value propositions before regrouping for a discussion of key takeaways and next steps. Attendees will leave with a differentiation “starter kit” to continue this work with their on-campus teams.