How to Not Market Higher Education

There are many things for a family to consider when selecting the right college. If you have a child at this point in their life, the marketing efforts put forth can be overwhelming. Letters and packages begin arriving from the most unlikely of places as early as their sophomore year. High Schools sponsor college nights where colleges and universities from across the nation send representatives to stand behind tables and work to lure in parents and students alike. The economic reality is that our centers of higher learning are burdened with very high fixed costs and every seat and dorm room needs to be filled if they have any hope of avoiding the cost cutting knife. With the exception of a small percentage of schools that have the liberty of skimming off only the best of students, it represents a full fledged battle for every student capable of scraping together the money to pursue a higher education.

In this grand competition every school tries to put their own unique spin on similar sounding messages in hopes of attracting attention. Superior education, or at least a good education for the money. Manipulated employment statistics to make you feel good about emerging from the other side of the process capable of paying the large loans that were accumulated. Volunteer groups, clubs, athletics and Greek life offering a full social life. And, always, a safe environment for the precious child. Regardless of the level of education or the full calendar, no parent is willing to send their child to a school where they don’t feel it’s safe, and schools everywhere go to great length to make sure that this is an integral part of their presentation, even if the prospective student ignores that part of the literature.

In my home state there is a university located in an inner city that, deserved or not, battles the image of not being considered entirely safe. Despite this reputation, someone in academia decided that the best thing to do was to scare the crap out of every parent. This fall they proudly began offering a class titled, “Be Prepared: Surviving an Active Shooter Incident.” As a parent of two college students, I am more than a little concerned about a school that seems to be warning students and faculty that this might be a useful class while attending. However, on further look, they did include one safety factor - they are offering the class online so that you don’t have to come to the campus.

I understand their concern, and the tragedy at Virginia Tech has shown that it can happen anywhere. Still, somewhere the admissions staff at this university is sitting at a bar having a stiff drink and wondering how they are going to attract students. “Come to our school and your child will be safe,” isn’t the same as, “come to our school and we will teach your child how to avoid being shot.”

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