This paper presents reflections about the decision-making process within the action realm that regulates graduate study at public and private universities and about the information needs that underlie such decision-making. The empirical object of this research extended to the informational environment of the Information Science Graduate Program of the Information Science Department at the Federal University of Pernambuco. The study was based on semi-structured interviews with the program’s coordinator and on information gleaned from the CAPES area document for the Applied Social Sciences. Although the resulting findings were complex, it was possible to determine that many rational decisions are decomposed into understandable elements and to identify the information needs that emerge from the decision-making process.