Selling Higher Education: Marketing and Advertising America's Colleges and Universities: ASHE Higher Education Report

Confronting an era marked by dwindling support and increased competition, it is incumbent on administrators and higher education leaders at colleges and universities to broadcast who they are, what they do, and what makes them valuable. In his direct, unvarnished review of marketing higher education, Eric J. Anctil offers a critical call to action for institutions who wish to continue and thrive in the business of higher education. Topics covered include:

1. Market Driven Versus Mission Driven
2. Persuasion and Choice
3. Marketing and Advertising Higher Education
4. Marketing and Advertising the Intangible
5. Market Differentiation
6. Recommendations for Selling Higher Education

To be viable in the modern era, today's colleges and universities must strike a balance among delivering sound academic programs, conducting and promoting research, and engaging with the community as social institutions and places of higher learning -- while also meeting the contemporary challenges of running large organizations with dwindling public support and greater competition from the for-profit education sector. Colleges and universities that are not only aware of this environment but also are savvy in the changing marketplace increase their changes of establishing distinction among their peers.

Strong institutional identity requires clearly recognizing one's organizational strengths, effectively communicating how one is different in a crowded marketplace, and building collaborative partnerships both internally and externally to promote greater awareness and recognition among key stakeholders. Strategic marketing enables one to move from being simply driven by the market to being savvy about it. This monograph is an invaluable guide to that process.

This is the second issue in the 34th volume of the Jossey-Bass series ASHE Higher Education Report. Each monograph in the series is the definitive analysis of a tough higher education problem, based on thorough research of pertinent literature and institutional experiences. Topics are identified by a national survey. Noted practitioners and scholars are then commissioned to write the reports, with experts providing critical reviews of each manuscript before publication.