The digital bridge to campus: Mass communication and graduate student enrollment decisions

Enrollment concern is at the center of many conversations for professionals working in higher education where promotion of graduate programs can be complicated and amongst tough competition. Previous research has shown that digital mass media is a resource used by prospective graduate students to learn about and make comparisons between potential institutions. The research also shows there are opportunities to improve marketing work in the higher ed digital mass communication space—where results and impact can be difficult to fully measure when compared to other traditional communication methods like printed publications and personal connections made with university representatives. In addition, a majority of the research focuses more broadly on recruitment as a whole and not specifically on graduate college prospects. The data in the study that follows has been captured from current graduate students using an anonymous survey distributed via email. Feedback was gathered related to the effect digital mass media had on the participants’ decision to enroll in graduate school at the University of Northern Iowa (UNI) for graduate school. Major findings of this study include identification of the major influencers of graduate college enrollment decisions