Below are marketing strategies that private colleges and universities are currently using or could consider. Marketing directors need a wide range of options to effectively attract students. The list includes common marketing strategies, with the last option being very aggressive.
- Traditional – the college uses the same strategy for decades, even when yield is dropping dramatically.
- New Geographic Area – the college reaches beyond its traditional geographic boundaries to locate students; usually, the strategy correlates the characteristics of enrolled students with potential students in new areas.
- New Revenue Market – the college designs new revenue-generating programs to attract students. These new revenue generators could include: new academic programs, new athletic programs, and new ways for students to prepare for future employment, create hybrid programs with other colleges, and buy better lists with a wider geographic range with more precise information about the potential students.
- Aggressive Plans: seek out strong programs in other colleges and offer a deal to the faculty to move to your college or start a comparable program at your college. Routes:
- Buy into an instructional network with a fast-growing market.
- Offer to buy programs from a failing college.
- Target the same market used by a competitor by offering new students a better price and shorter times to complete a degree.