(Reprinted from the May 2011 issue of the CGS Communicator)

Graduate deans report that their top pressing issues in 2011 are about recruitment, admissions, and enrollment management, according to the Council of Graduate Schools’ (CGS) annual Pressing Issues Survey. Each year, CGS asks graduate deans at member institutions to identify the three most important or “pressing” issues or challenges they currently face. The findings from this Pressing Issues Survey inform CGS about the concerns of graduate deans and help to shape sessions at Summer Workshops, Annual Meetings, and other forums, as well as future best practices projects. The survey has been conducted annually as part of the CGS International Graduate Admissions Survey, Phase I: Applications since 2004 and through the CGS membership survey and other surveys in prior years.

The 2011 Phase I survey was sent to 494 U.S. colleges and universities that were members of CGS as of January 2011. A total of 230 institutions responded to the survey, for a response rate of 47% (Bell, 2011). About 93% (213) of the Phase I survey respondents wrote in one or more pressing issues in response to this open-ended question, and the analyses below are limited to these 213 respondents. They included 155 doctoral institutions, 48 master’s-focused institutions, and 10 institutions classified as baccalaureate or specialized in the 2010 basic Carnegie Classifications. Sixty-two private, not-for-profit institutions responded to the Pressing Issues Survey, along with 151 public institutions. By geographic region, 54 of the responding institutions were in the Midwest, 42 were in the Northeast, 36 in the West, and 81 in the South. Responses to the Pressing Issues Survey were coded into broad categories. Since respondents were able to write in up to three pressing issues, the percentages sum to more than 100%. 

Pressing Issues in 2011

The top pressing issue identified by graduate deans was recruitment, admissions, and enrollment management, mentioned by more than two-thirds (68%) of all respondents (see Table 1). Within this category, respondents mentioned competition for prospective graduate students, challenges in attracting a diverse applicant pool, recruiting international students, and recruiting quality graduate students, among other concerns. Respondents from master’s & specialized institutions were more likely to mention recruitment, admissions, and enrollment management than graduate deans from doctoral institutions (74% vs. 65%), and respondents from private, not-for-profit institutions were more likely to indicate that this was a pressing issue than those at public institutions (71% vs. 66%).

Graduate student financial support was the second most commonly mentioned pressing issue, with 54% of all respondents saying this was a concern. This category includes health insurance for graduate students, as well as direct support through assistantships, fellowships, etc. Graduate deans from doctoral institutions and master’s & specialized institutions were nearly equally as likely to indicate that graduate student financial support was a concern (54% vs. 52%). Respondents from public institutions, however, were more likely to note graduate student financial support as a pressing issue than respondents at private, not-for-profit institutions (56% vs. 48%).

Graduate program financing, dealing with budget cuts, and issues related to the economy ranked third (40%). Respondents from doctoral institutions were more likely to mention this issue than respondents from master’s & specialized institutions (43% vs. 34%), and respondents from public institutions were more likely to indicate that this issue was a concern than those from private, not-for-profit institutions (42% vs. 37%).

Student support and services was ranked as the fourth most pressing issue this year (28%). Within this category, respondents mentioned advising and mentoring, professional development for graduate students, career advice, and job placement assistance, among other concerns. Respondents from doctoral institutions were more likely to mention student support and services than graduate deans from master’s & specialized institutions (32% vs. 19%), and respondents from private, not-for-profit institutions were more likely to indicate that this was a pressing issue than those at public institutions (40% vs. 23%).

The percentages of respondents who mentioned the remaining pressing issues are shown in Table 1. General management and administration (21%) includes a wide variety of issues focused on areas such as policies and procedures, data management, and communications. All issues related to program quality; the evaluation, assessment, or review of graduate programs; accreditation; and student learning outcomes were grouped together as program quality, evaluation, assessment, and review (17%). The category of faculty and staff issues (17%) mainly includes responses about the challenges of dealing with faculty and staff shortages, primarily due to budget cuts. The category of leadership and advocacy (14%) includes responses related to promoting graduate education and communicating the value of graduate education to internal and external stakeholders, among other related issues. All responses related to developing or eliminating programs were grouped as program development/elimination (9%), but the vast majority of responses in this category concerned program development rather than program elimination. Issues surrounding retention, completion, attrition, and time-to-degree (7%) are also grouped together. Finally, all responses related to program delivery, including the delivery of online, distance, interdisciplinary, and joint and dual programs are grouped as program delivery (6%). 

Pressing Issues by Carnegie Classification and Institutional Control

The rank order of the top three pressing issues was the same for respondents from doctoral institutions as it was for respondents from master’s & specialized institutions (see Table 1). In both cases recruitment, admissions, and enrollment management was the top issue (65% and 74%, respectively), graduate student financial support was ranked second (54% and 52%, respectively), and graduate program financing, dealing with budget cuts, and issues related to the economy ranked third (43% and 34%, respectively). Respondents from doctoral institutions were more likely than respondents from master’s & specialized institutions to mention student support and services (32% vs. 19%), but they were less likely to mention faculty and staff issues (14% vs. 26%).
 

The findings for respondents from public institutions mirror the overall findings, with recruitment, admissions, and enrollment management; graduate student financial support; and graduate program financing, dealing with budget cuts, and issues related to the economy as the first, second, and third most pressing issues, respectively (see Table 1). At private, not-for-profit institutions, recruitment, admissions, and enrollment management and graduate student financial support were also the first and second most pressing issues, but the third most pressing issue was student support and services.

Pressing Issues by Geographic Region

Recruitment, admissions, and enrollment management was the top pressing issue identified by graduate deans at institutions located in all four regions of the United States (see Table 2). The percentage of respondents indicating this area as a pressing issue ranged from a low of 64% of respondents in the West to a high of 71% of respondents in the Northeast. The second and third most pressing issues varied by the geographic region of the responding institutions. Among respondents in the Northeast and South, graduate student financial support was the second most pressing issue and graduate program financing/budget/economy was the third most pressing issue. In contrast, among respondents in the Midwest and West, graduate program financing/budget/economy was the second most pressing issue and graduate student financial support was the third most pressing issue. Respondents from institutions in the Northeast and South were more likely to mention faculty and staff issues than respondents from the Midwest and West. Respondents from the Midwest and South were more likely to indicate that leadership and advocacy was a pressing issue than respondents from the Northeast and West.

Historical Comparison of Pressing Issues

Articles in previous years about the Pressing Issues Survey have provided an examination of the changes in pressing issues over time. Over the past several years, however, there have been variations in coding among researchers, as well as variations in the broad categories used to group issues, meaning that such an examination of changes over time is inexact. Rather than presenting rankings of pressing issues categories over time, it is better to simply touch on the issues that remain among the top concerns of graduate deans each year.

Two broad topics in particular have been mentioned frequently by graduate deans over the past five years: graduate student financial support and recruitment, admissions, and enrollment management. In most recent years, these have been among the two most pressing issues faced by graduate deans. Issues related to graduate program financing, dealing with budget cuts, and the economy have also been mentioned frequently by graduate deans, particularly in the last three years. General management and administration issues have also been cited as concerns in recent years, but given the wide variety of issues that are typically grouped within this category, the specific challenges have varied from year to year.

Conclusion

The results of this year’s Pressing Issues Survey reveal that the majority of graduate deans view recruitment, admissions, and enrollment management as their top concern, as they face issues related to competition for prospective graduate students, challenges in attracting a diverse applicant pool, recruiting international students, and recruiting quality graduate students, among other concerns. They also remain concerned about graduate student financial support and about graduate program financing, dealing with budget cuts, and issues related to the economy. The latter is often reflected in other broad categories as well, with respondents mentioning concerns about the effect of budget cuts and the economy on other aspects of graduate education, including recruiting budgets, personnel, and program delivery. Overall, the results of the Pressing Issues Survey reveal the continued focus of graduate deans on recruiting, enrolling, and supporting high quality graduate students; on offering high quality graduate programs that produce graduates ready to meet the demands of the 21^st century global economy; and on communicating the role and value of graduate education.

By Nathan E. Bell, Director, Research and Policy Analysis