Running head: SCHOLARLY ARTICLE REVIEW

Scholarly Article Review

Daniel Vorwerk
University of Northern Iowa

SCHOLARLY ARTICLE REVIEW

Competition for students at institutions of higher education has increased steadily for
decades now and as information on institutions has become more readily available to students
through the internet, recruitment practices at institutions across the country have evolved.
Modern recruitment practices include a focus on marketing with a new emphasis on online
marketing. The research article I have selected to review is titled What College and University
Websites Reveal About the Purpose of Higher Education. The study, first published in The
Journal of Higher Education in July 2014, analyzes how college and university websites play a
role in the college search process. The study examined the textual and visual elements of twelve
colleges and universities in the United States, separated into four institution categories based on
the 2010 Carnegie Classifications of Institutions: Big 10, Elite, Southern Colleges and Public
Regional (Saichaie & Morphew, 2014, p. 507). Data collected from the twelve institutions
websites included information from home pages, about pages, admissions pages, academic major
and/or programs of study pages and pages outlining financial aid as well as student life. This
data was analyzed to better understand what the language (including text and images) on a
sample of college and university websites communicated to prospective students about the
mission of those institutions (Saichaie & Morphew, 2014, p. 500). In order to do this they,
keeping the private and public purposes of institutions in mind, sought to understand whether
these or other differences were evident on institutional websites (Saichaie & Morphew, 2014, p.
502).
The study revealed that, no matter the size or type of institution, much of what appears
on the websites is a generic representation of the lifestyle associated with attending college and
not a scholarly pursuit of knowledge (Saichaie & Morphew, 2014, p. 520). It was determined
that institutional websites do little to reflect the purpose the institution serves as the information

SCHOLARLY ARTICLE REVIEW

marketed to prospective students online is generic and fitting to all students. The research
suggests that the sample institutional websites portray these diverse colleges and universities in
relatively homogenous ways. The messages de-emphasize the institutions public missions and
purposes, as well as the goals that these colleges and universities have chosen for themselves
(Saichaie & Morphew, 2014, p. 523). Through this study, it was found that all of the institutions
studied market their institution as an idealized setting where students assemble to enjoy a
collegiate experience chockfull of extracurricular activities and academic demands tailored to
their interests and career preparation (Saichaie & Morphew, 2014, p. 523).
This is not a subject that has been discussed in any of my classes nor do I think it will be,
but the underlying idea is one that I began noticing about institutions during a recent visit to the
University of Iowa. The idea of selling your institution to prospective students is a common
practice in offices of admissions and a focus in many university relations and marketing
departments on campuses. As I toured the University of Iowas Pentacrest, the tour guide gave
an overview of the campus and the buildings surrounding us. As he described the student life on
campus though, much of what he said sounded like he was describing UNIs campus. He was
describing the campus as easily accessible from any point around, talked about the relationships
you can build with faculty and the friendships you will build with those living in the dorms with
you. He described scenes of students studying in the grass and the high level of athletic
competition the universities athletic programs engage in. Because of this personal interaction
with another institution in a different classification than UNI, I find validity in what the study I
read found. Even though the interactions I had at the University of Iowa were in person and not
something I viewed on their website, I still saw first hand the idea that an institution sells itself
as something it may not be.

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My personal belief on this topic is that institutions should market their institution with
specific types of students in mind. With my experience in marketing and my limited experience
working with the office of admissions at UNI, the most effective marketing campaigns are the
ones that set specific and targeted goals. At a university, that looks like understanding who you
are as an institution and what kind of a student you wish to enroll. When looking at academics at
the institutions, the study found that of the four groups of institutions, only one of the groups set
themselves a part from the other types of institutions. The elite group made up of Harvard,
Stanford and Princeton, presented themselves as a place where intellectual development is
important but also noted that they have the ability to place students in high paying jobs post
graduation, a common theme among the other three groups of institutions (Saichaie & Morphew,
2014, p. 521).
In conclusion, this research study provided concrete evidence that online marketing
practices of admissions offices at differing sizes of institutions of higher education are similar,
regardless of what their institution believes to be its focus as a university or college. With this in
mind, I believe that institutions need to better develop marketing plans for recruiting and
enrolling students that reflect the public and private purposes of the institution.

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References

Saichaie, K. k., & Morphew, C. C. (2014). What College and University Websites Reveal About
the Purposes of Higher Education. The Journal of Higher Education, 85(4), 499-530.