March 27, 2026

Dr. Kyle Brantley
Senior Vice President of Strategic Marketing & Communications

Introduction: Your Best Prospects May Already Know You

In business, they say it’s easier to retain an existing customer than find a new one. That saying also applies to graduate recruitment. Institutions spend considerable time and money identifying new graduate prospects while sometimes overlooking two high-potential audiences already connected to them: their own undergraduate students and alumni.

These audiences have already purchased your product. They know your culture, your campus, your faculty, and the unique experience you provide (hopefully, it was a positive one!). You aren’t starting the relationship from zero. In many cases, you’ve spent years building that relationship.

But familiarity doesn’t automatically translate into graduate enrollment. You have to be intentional about recruiting these populations and create frameworks that give undergraduates a reason to stay and alumni a reason to come back.

In this blog, we’ll dive into strategies to build your graduate prospect pool with those high-potential prospects who have far more than brand familiarity—they have brand lived experience.

Undergraduates: Give Them a Reason to Stay

Your undergraduate students may be the most accessible graduate prospects you have. They already know what it means to be a student at your institution. Better yet, they're still on your campus, in your classrooms, meeting with your advisors, and interacting with your faculty. Talk about a captive audience.

But proximity doesn't equal a graduate school slam dunk. Many undergraduates aren't thinking about graduate school yet. Others may assume that continuing their education means going somewhere new. And some simply may not know what graduate programs you offer or how those programs connect to their career goals.

That's what makes intentional recruitment so important. You have an opportunity that no outside institution can completely replicate: an existing relationship and regular access to the student.

Undergraduate recruitment is largely about continuity. How can you help students see graduate education at your institution not simply as "more school," but as a natural next step toward where they want to go in life?

Start the Conversation Before Senior Year

Don't wait until senior year to introduce students to graduate education. Junior year is a good time to begin educating students about what graduate school is, what it requires, and what it can do for them professionally. At this point, the goal isn't to generate applications. You're introducing graduate education as one possible answer to the question students are increasingly beginning to ask: What comes next?

The message to a junior isn't “apply now.” It's more like: Here's where grad school could take you—and, boy, have we got a path for you!

• Financial uncertainty
• Doubt about fit
• Distance and homesickness
• Missing orientation
• No meaningful connection to campus
• Social pressure from friends or relationships going elsewhere
• Anxiety about academic performance
• Feeling invisible after deposit

By senior year, that conversation should shift. Your graduate recruitment strategy should shift with them. Students are thinking more seriously about jobs, careers, finances, and life after graduation. Think of junior year primarily as awareness and education and senior year as consideration and conversion.

Map Undergraduate Majors to Graduate Pathways

Identify the most logical undergraduate-to-graduate pathways at your institution. Psychology might lead to counseling. Business administration might lead to an MBA. Biology might lead to health-related programs. Education majors would most naturally feed into an MEd.

Don't send every undergraduate information about every graduate program. Develop segmented communications around programs that make sense for their academic background and career interests.

And don't assume you already know every pathway. Your enrollment data may reveal some surprises. Perhaps communication or kinesiology graduates are enrolling in your MBA at unexpectedly high rates. The more you track and understand those patterns, the better you can identify prospects.

Turn Faculty Into Recruiters

This may be one of the biggest advantages institutions have with their own students. A professor saying, "Have you thought about our master's program? I think you'd be really good at this," carries far more weight than another email from admissions.

Equip faculty with simple information about your graduate programs: who makes an ideal candidate, program highlights, admission requirements, scholarships, deadlines, and whom to contact. Ask them to proactively identify promising students and make referrals to graduate admissions.

You might even charge faculty with making a brief graduate-program plug once a semester in relevant undergraduate classes. It doesn't need to feel like a sales presentation. A brief, casual mention may be enough to plant the seed.

The goal isn't to turn faculty into admissions counselors. It's to help them recognize and refer good prospects and to capitalize on existing relationships your graduate admissions team simply cannot replicate.

Build a Communication Strategy, Not an Occasional Email

Once you've identified likely pathways, develop an intentional nurture campaign for current students.

For juniors, consider a lighter program-specific series of three or four communications throughout the year. Focus on career possibilities, outcomes, the value of graduate education, and programs that align with their interests.

During senior year, increase the frequency and specificity. A five- or six-email series might cover program distinctives, faculty, career outcomes, affordability, application requirements, deadlines, and incentives for continuing.

Throughout the campaign, incorporate current graduate student testimonials, especially students who also completed their undergraduate degree at your institution. The students you're targeting may already know them or recognize their names, making their stories particularly relevant. Recent graduate-program alumni can also help connect the dots between the degree and career outcomes.

Facilitate Events for Exploration

Host program-specific graduate information sessions once or twice per semester. Include graduate admissions staff to discuss the application process and finances, faculty to explain the academic experience, and current graduate students to talk about the program from a student's perspective. Whenever possible, feature graduate students who also completed their undergraduate degree at the institution. They can connect the dots in a way faculty and admissions staff can't.

But consider going beyond the traditional graduate information session. A broader "What's Next?" event for juniors and seniors could incorporate career planning, employment, graduate education, alumni, faculty, and perhaps employers.

That puts graduate education into the larger conversation students are already having about life after college. It may also reach students who would never voluntarily attend something called a "Graduate School Information Session."

Reinforce What They Already Value

Students considering staying already know what they appreciate about your institution. Remind them that the qualities they valued as undergraduates—personal attention, faculty relationships, academic quality, community, support, or other institutional strengths—can continue at the graduate level (where that's genuinely true, of course).

You're not asking them to take a chance on an unfamiliar institution. Show them how the experience they already value can continue at a higher level while preparing them for what's next.

Reduce Friction to Reward Staying

If you're asking someone who already attends your institution to stay, make staying that much easier. Depending on your programs and policies, consider:

• Waiving application fees.
• Waiving entrance exams for students meeting certain GPA requirements.
• Waiving letters of reference.
• Simplifying transcript and documentation requirements.
• Providing a continuation incentive to those who transition directly into graduate study—even a $1,000 scholarship can be meaningful to a graduating senior.
• Creating 4+1 or other accelerated pathways that tie undergraduate programs to graduate study.
• Allowing qualified seniors to begin earning graduate credit before completing their undergraduate degree.

You're not simply asking students to stay. You're giving them a faster, easier, or more affordable pathway to the next credential. Less red tape, more red carpet.