Yes, we've all heard about is the competition for admission. But it's important to remember that most of the over 2,000 colleges in the country have plenty of room. In fact, they're spending a lot of money to attract students, and I don't mean just the straight-A, perfect SAT-scoring violinists-who-invented-photosynthesis kind of students.
Here's an example of just how much colleges are relying on marketing. Today's "The Choice" blog shares the story of how Ursinus College nearly tripled their applications in just one year after hiring a direct marketing company.
Like a baseball player choosing to bulk up on steroids, Ursinus came to the conclusion in 2005 that it needed to get bigger. Specifically, the college wanted to increase its freshman class by about 100 — to just under 550 — in part to bring in students who might fill classes in new disciplines like biochemistry, environmental studies and the performing arts. To do so, (vice president of enrollment) Mr. DiFeliciantonio hired a direct-marketing firm from Virginia called Royall and Company, and its initial recommendations were that Ursinus waive its $50 application fee and its essay requirement. The results were immediate: in one year, from 2005 to 2006, applications to Ursinus more than doubled, to 4,413, from 1,725. Two years later, they grew yet again, by another 40 percent, to 6,179.
I'm sharing it here because for better or for worse (I'd call it "for worse,"), colleges are spending big marketing dollars to find, lure and secure new students. But the reason they're doing it is encouraging–there are more spaces than there are students to fill them. The colleges want you, and they know they aren't the only ones.
And hats off to Ursinus who, as the article describes, ultimately abandoned their new direct marketing strategies, saw their application numbers plummet, and is still perfectly OK with that.