PR success makes media, students go wild for Paul Smith’s College
Research shows that people with bachelor’s degrees earn significantly more than their former high school classmates, are less prone to depression and divorce and live longer. More college graduates, The Hechinger Report adds, also make for a healthier and more innovative society.
Yet, as NBC News noted, there were four million fewer college students in 2022 than there were 10 years earlier, “a falloff many observers blame on Covid-19, a dip in the number of Americans under 18 and a strong labor market that is sucking young people straight into the workforce.”
PBS reported in 2023 that U.S. college attendance was “on the upswing” until the pandemic reversed decades of progress. Rates fell even as the number of high school graduates grew, “and despite economic upheaval, which typically drives more people into higher education.” The report cited National Student Clearinghouse data indicating U.S. undergraduate college enrollment decreased by 8% between 2019 and 2022, and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data showing that the slide in college attendance since 2018 has been the largest ever recorded. The PBS report added that the slide in college enrollment is likely to worsen labor shortages and decrease people’s lifetime earnings, and it warned: “Economists say the impact could be dire.”
Adding to the challenge was “the recent tumultuous rollout of the new federal financial aid form” used by colleges, which has led to fewer students paying their enrollment deposits.
Meanwhile, the changing climate is altering rainfall, influencing crop yields, affecting human health, impacting forests and other ecosystems and even impacting our energy supply.
Challenge
Against this backdrop, Paul Smith’s College decided to invest in PR to emphasize the positives about its institution and people – and the incredible benefits it brings to students and society.
This New York institution isn’t another cookie-cutter college. It’s the only four-year college within the world-famous “forever wild” Adirondacks, and it provides hands-on education that combines proven career training with meaningful exploration of self, society and Earth. Forestry majors at the college help to sustainably manage the college’s 14,000-acre property. Fisheries and wildlife science majors at the school learn how to tag and track different species. And entrepreneurial business studies majors write working business plans for local operations.
The organization wanted to highlight its position as the college for climate education, reshape perceptions of the local press, expand its national media presence and boost student enrollment.
Strategy
After determining that Bospar was the right agency to meet this challenge, our PR professionals created and immediately began to execute a multi-pronged public relations strategy.
That PR strategy entailed establishing its executive leadership and expert professors as thought leaders by using educational and professional insights to secure 1:1 briefings and support impactful local and national coverage related to climate change, higher education, social justice, sustainability, wilderness, and other key sectors and domains.
To give media a why-now reason to engage with us, we created and pitched an agency of record announcement, forestry grant press release, experiential learning spotlights, professor research, climate impact input, and open house, winter carnival and commencement events.
We prepared the client’s media-facing thought leaders for each reporter interview by providing them with a briefing document with meeting details and participants, what each reporter covered and wanted to discuss, background on the journalist and their media outlet, interview best practices, key messages to convey, and likely questions and how to answer them.
In addition to securing media interviews and coverage, Bospar’s crack team of content creators and PR professionals worked to develop and place one byline per quarter in key media outlets to showcase the expertise of individuals from the college. At the same time, we deployed newsjacking to showcase the expertise of the college’s officials and professors. This entailed formulating and providing reporters with ready-to-go quotes to use in their stories about the news of the day. Simultaneously, we shared the success stories of students, alumni, high-caliber supporters and friends through awards, content, events and other speaking opportunities.
All of the above enabled the client to educate media and the college’s target audiences – and to become a go-to resource for trade and general media reporters and editors on the earlier-mentioned topics as well as on trends and developments related to hospitality, psychology, therapy and winter sports. In the process, we made a point of differentiating the college from the competition by emphasizing its innovations as an experiential learning powerhouse.
Campaign Results
Through differentiated messaging, the power of PR and Bospar’s tireless team of politely pushy public relations experts, we accentuated the positive. And our PR strategy led to a beneficial commencement feature story, national coverage in top-tier education publications such as Times Higher Education and Inside Higher Ed (written by Ashley Mowreader) and multiple broadcast spots. And it kickstarted the client’s top-tier national engagements with The Wall Street Journal and The Independent.
Despite a lack of marketing and recruitment the previous year, among other challenges, PR helped the client to regain its footing, with conversion from its total inquiry to applicant pool increasing seven points, from 75% to 81%, and its deposits going up 7.5% for fall.
“Partnering with Bospar marked a pivotal moment for Paul Smith’s College. As ‘The College of the Adirondacks,’ we hold a profound responsibility to our environment and community. Our origin story is deeply rooted in world-class hospitality based on natural resource stewardship, and our best thinking is done outdoors. Nestled in a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, our campus boasts unique facilities like a student-run sawmill, a Biathlon range and a lumberjack sports arena. Despite these distinctions, we were often overlooked by the media. Bospar has been instrumental in lifting the conversation, helping us share our authentic story with a broader audience,” said Kathy Bonavist, vice president of marketing and enrollment at Paul Smith’s College. “With their expertise, we are now being recognized as a leading climate college, emphasizing the unparalleled experience we offer. Ranked third in the nation for innovation by U.S. News and World Report Best Colleges Rankings (2022), and recently recognized as 38th in the country for Social Mobility and as a Best College for Veterans, we are now reaching international higher education trade publications and capturing regional and national attention.”
