Beyond the Brochure: Branding for Sustainable College Enrollment

The evolving landscape of higher education has profoundly impacted university enrollment. While the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center reported an eight-year decline in total U.S. college enrollment from 2011 to 2019, recent data indicate a complex recovery post-pandemic. Overall undergraduate enrollment is beginning to rebound, especially at community colleges, however, it has not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels. Moreover, specific nuances exist within freshman enrollment trends, with varying recovery rates across institutional types. Facing these dynamic shifts, scholars and strategic management professionals increasingly advocate utilizing strategic resources to achieve sustainable enrollment growth. Using a qualitative case study approach and the resource-based view theory, this study explored how a public university in the United States leverage brand reputation as a valuable resource for sustainable enrollment. Eight participants were purposefully selected and interviewed. Findings revealed that these stakeholders employed several brand strategies, including creating consistent brand messages, exploiting visual identity, and focusing on core values, to ensure sustainable enrollment. This study offers timely insights for higher educational leaders on how to strategically realign their brand reputation management to navigate contemporary enrollment challenges, achieve growth, and ensure institutional sustainability.