Stability, Meaning, and Overall Well-being: Selling College to a Skeptical Audience

College is about more than the dream of becoming rich. Successfully marketing your school requires tapping into students’ wishes for a future full of meaningful work and secure finances—attaining the good life. 

Much has been made of the financial benefits of getting a college degree, but there are deeper reasons to consider enrolling. Though more qualitative than quantitative, attending college can benefit students with a more stable life, a sense of meaning or purpose, and making a living in an increasingly challenging global economy. Finding a job that contributes to society while also affording a stable life can be a more achievable goal for students than getting rich. 

College Students Seek Meaning 

Colleges have mission statements—their reason for being. And students seek the same—a send of purpose. By leveraging your college’s principles and identity, you can attract students who seek an experience where they can hone their own identities. Representing your college’s unique qualities helps students who resonate with your mission to find and choose your school. 

A Harvard study found that 58% of people aged 18-25 reported a lack of “meaning or purpose” in their lives. With institutions crumbling and schooling interrupted by the pandemic, college-aged students need opportunities to help them find their way in life. College can provide a structure full of positive experiences that can set young people on a path in life that feels true and meaningful for them. 

Adult students may be looking to return to college to discover a more purpose-filled life too. According to a CareerBuilder survey, many adults seeking jobs value “interesting work” and “work that has an impact on the world.” Increasingly, people of all ages are re-examining their lives and considering new careers. The pandemic stopped everyday life, so people had time to think rather than rush around doing their usual hustle. Some decided to switch jobs, while others chose to move up by getting more education.  

Financial Stability 

Being wealthy doesn’t guarantee happiness, but sound finances are a fundamental need to avoid the stresses of poverty. According to a report from the Federal Reserve, those with more education felt that they were at least doing okay financially. When you think about financial well-being, the sense that you can afford the necessities in life is crucial. 

How much money you make is one metric of financial success, but whether you can make a steady, reasonable salary is another. The debate around the value of a college degree often centers around the student debt some graduates carry and the jobs they find that make it difficult to pay these loans back.

Certainly, students shouldn’t take on more college loans than they can reasonably pay back with the careers they seek. However, graduates’ higher earning potential makes the sacrifice of taking on some debt potentially worthwhile for many students. And as this report demonstrates, more educated people feel their finances are fine.

Job Openings

The jobs being created in our economy increasingly require a college education. By 2031, 71% of jobs will require some college or a degree.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, college graduates are also less likely to be unemployed. The unemployment rate for those with a bachelor’s degree is 2.2% versus 3.9% for those with just a high school diploma.

Aligning School Identity and Students’ Values

Each college has a unique mission, campus (or virtual) atmosphere, and community that participates in realizing the school’s aims. The more you can infuse your marketing with the flavor of the school, the central themes and tenets that animate your community, and the personalities that contribute, the more prospective students can envision themselves as part of the school if they feel connected to your mission.

Since the aim is not just to enroll students but to graduate them, marketing that accurately reflects the character of your university can help students who will be inspired and motivated at your institution. If your school’s marketing resonates with students, they will more likely connect with people on campus and benefit from your school, which can lead them to discover their sense of meaning and forward motion in life.

Marketing College as A Place to Find Meaning

Another way to tap into young people’s need to find purpose is to highlight the ways your college supports student exploration, mentoring, and meaningful activities in and out of the classroom. Do you have special activities or facilities on campus like a garden, a daycare center, or recreation facilities? Do students have access to mentors, counselors, and time with faculty? Are groups on campus devoted to various causes, from environmentalism to helping with the Special Olympics? Are your academic clubs and affiliations strong for students interested in agriculture or global business?

When students start college, they may or may not have a major in mind. Even if they have some idea of their direction, their major may change as they try classes. And even if they have a sense of direction, that doesn’t always translate to feeling a deep sense of purpose.

College is a time for students to discover more about themselves, uncover their talents, and find their path. It can be about connecting to themselves and their values, emotions, and dreams. Rather than a series of training exercises meant to prepare someone for a particular job, college allows for learning about the world and other perspectives and challenging oneself to think critically.

Consider marketing the student experience and how students have space to discover new interests, dig deeper into their faith or passions, and figure out what will help them feel the meaning in their lives. Educational and career goals can give students a sense of direction, but they are not the same as finding meaning. Uncovering the “why” of any educational pathway, career, or hobby is where the meaning can be found. How can your school’s marketing show that you are a good place for students to do some of this searching?

College as a Path to Well-Being in Life

A sense of purpose and financial security are vital elements of creating a future students can look forward to. A sense of purpose is associated with lower anxiety and depression and better physical health. Financial uncertainty is a driver of stress for many people, so financial well-being—meeting your financial obligations and needs—means you are reducing your overall stress. Meaning and sound finances are both essential for living a healthy and less stressed life. College can help with both of these issues, and marketing that addresses these themes can help students feel that your school could help propel them to a meaningful, hopeful, and stable life.

Sources:

https://www.chronicle.com/article/its-not-all-about-the-money?sra=true

https://mcc.gse.harvard.edu/reports/on-edge

https://press.careerbuilder.com/2023-10-10-CareerBuilder-Job-Seekers-What-They-Want-2023-Study-Reveals-Key-Insights-for-Employers

https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/2019-economic-well-being-of-us-households-in-2018-higher-education.htm

https://cew.georgetown.edu/cew-reports/projections2031/

https://www.bls.gov/emp/chart-unemployment-earnings-education.htm

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/jclp.23576

https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_strong_is_your_sense_of_purpose_in_life