Characterizing the Decision Process Leading to Enrollment in Doctoral Programs: Theory, Application, and Practice

As a result of environmental changes, the administration at a private university's business school determined that there was a need to better understand the market for doctoral education. A behavioral approach was employed to study this market. A theoretical model of the decision process leading to enrollment in the school's doctoral business program was developed. This enrollment process model was utilized to guide the implementation of a survey that sampled the school's current students. Application of this model to questionnaire development procedures is also presented. Based on the information collected, the decision process leading to enrollment in the doctoral business program was characterized. In practice, this depiction provided insight to student behavior and the substance of the school's current market. The usefulness and applicability of the enrollment process model in achieving enrollment management objectives is also discussed.