College Marketers Expand Tactics to Recruit Students

From sex appeal to rock stars to skiing, colleges have ditched standard course catalog and brochure recruitment tactics and, instead, turned to racier, less collegial methods.

Doane College in Nebraska found itself apologizing after it sent out a post card mailing to 13,500 California high school students that featured the image of a male student surrounded by women with copy that encouraged students to play the field.

University of Nebraska, facing enrollment declines, allowed Motley Crue’s Tommy Lee to film his “Tommy Lee Goes to College” reality show on campus. Of course, complaints arose surrounding his jail term for kicking his former wife, Pam Anderson.

Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, PA took a less racy but equally alternative approach to recruitment by inviting applicants to an all expenses paid weekend ski getaway. Small college Centre College in Danville, KY sends highschool seniors personalized birthday cards and makes birthday phone calls.

Picture of Steve Hall

Steve Hall

RECENT ARTICLES

TRENDING AROUND THE WEB

Real confidence rarely needs to announce itself: it shows up as stillness under pressure, a level voice when everyone else in the room is raising theirs, a willingness to let silence sit for a few extra seconds, and no need to perform for an audience that was never really watching

Real confidence rarely needs to announce itself: it shows up as stillness under pressure, a level voice when everyone else in the room is raising theirs, a willingness to let silence sit for a few extra seconds, and no need to perform for an audience that was never really watching

Global English Editing

A survey of 2,000 women over 45 commissioned by the herbal remedy brand A. Vogel found that more than two-thirds felt completely ignored by men the moment they walked into a crowded room, and 46 percent said no one around them seemed to understand what that shift actually felt like

A survey of 2,000 women over 45 commissioned by the herbal remedy brand A. Vogel found that more than two-thirds felt completely ignored by men the moment they walked into a crowded room, and 46 percent said no one around them seemed to understand what that shift actually felt like

Global English Editing

Received Pronunciation, the accent linguists still nickname the Queen’s English, took shape inside a handful of England’s most expensive private schools, and it remains such a reliable marker of that background that a stranger can often place someone’s education within a single sentence.

Received Pronunciation, the accent linguists still nickname the Queen’s English, took shape inside a handful of England’s most expensive private schools, and it remains such a reliable marker of that background that a stranger can often place someone’s education within a single sentence.

Global English Editing

9 truths about people that regular volunteers learn fast

9 truths about people that regular volunteers learn fast

Hack Spirit

7 habits of people who remember everyone’s name and use it well

7 habits of people who remember everyone’s name and use it well

Hack Spirit

What a glass of wine at 8pm actually does for a writer — and what it doesn’t

What a glass of wine at 8pm actually does for a writer — and what it doesn’t

Global English Editing