Higher education--the hard sell. A descriptive study of advertising done by private, four-year colleges and universities in the southeast United States

This research was an examination of recent advertising efforts of private four-year colleges and universities in the southeast United States. The purpose of the study was to provide basic information on the present state of the practice of advertising done to recruit students, since no central information source on that practice presently exists.

Information was gained through a mail survey in the Spring of 198o. The questionnaire was mailed to the admissions officers of the total population of private, four-year colleges and universities in eleven southeastern states, or 160 schools. A 63% completion rate was achieved with one mailing.

Twice as many schools advertise to help recruit students as do not, 67% compared to 33%. Over 80% of schools that advertise have begun their programs in the past ten years. Print media are used considerably more than broadcast media, both in terms of the number of schools using the media and in terms of the amount of money spent in the media.

Over 90% of the schools that advertise direct some ads to high school students. Less than one-third work with an outside agency in preparing ads, and just over one-half formerly evaluate their programs.

Cross tabulation revealed that with respect to advertising, no significant differences existed between church-affiliated schools and those with no religious affiliation. The only difference between schools of less than l000 enrollment and schools with l00o or more, was that larger schools generally spend more money on advertising and promotional efforts.