State’s Higher Ed Wage Enrollment War

That trendy surge in advertising and marketing at the state’s colleges and universities was in full effect in September when the institutions had to report fall enrollment figures to the Department of Higher Education.

We were hit with a barrage of press releases from schools throughout the state touting enrollment “surges,” “highest enrollment yet” stats and promises for even higher numbers as late registrations trickle in. These numbers, of course, are the telling factors behind whether all that ad money is actually attracting new students.

University of Arkansas at Little Rock touted “steady growth” in reporting its 12,177 students, which is good enough for another third-place finish.

The University of Arkansas, obviously, is the largest in the state with 18,647 reported students enrolled. Aside from calling it a campus record for total enrollment, the UA’s press release also led with the fact that an expensive ad campaign to attract minority students is working.

Last summer we reported that the UA had spent $300,000 to hire Advantage Communications Inc., the Little Rock full-service advertising and marketing firm that specializes in marketing aimed at minority audiences, to beef up that statistic.