Anyone working in graduate recruitment was probably not surprised by the latest annual enrollment report from the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS). For the second consecutive year, CGS reported a decline in new graduate students in 2011 after almost a decade of steady growth. Even with applications up, many graduate programs are finding that prospective students are not enrolling as predictably as in the recent past.

I have been involved in enrollment management for more than 40 years, both as an enrollment manager on campus and as a consultant for Noel-Levitz. During that time, I have seen changes in higher education that are nothing short of revolutionary. Shifts in access to higher education, the gender and ethnic composition of classes, the number of students attending college, and technological innovations are just some of the sweeping changes that have made higher education an increasing force in the social, economic, political, and cultural life of our country.