Excellence Within Reach

Faced with inflated sticker prices and the fear of crippling debt, more students and families are selecting schools based solely on affordability.

In response to declining undergraduate applications and the rising cost of college tuition, Canisius College developed an initiative designed to make their world-class education more affordable for students and families. This program reduced their tuition by 23% (returning it to what it was in 2008) and their housing costs by $2,000. To ensure the successful launch of this new initiative, Canisius enlisted the help of The Martin Group. We began by branding the initiative as “Excellence Within Reach” to emphasize both the tuition reduction and the quality of a Jesuit education at Canisius.

Our team proceeded to execute a wide range of tactics to get the program noticed by prospective and current students and parents, including TV, radio and digital ads, as well as social media content. Using inspirational student stories, we created a long-form video that outlined the high-level details of the program. Since the celebrated program launch at a student rally and press conference, the video has exceeded media benchmarks with a 77.7% completion rate from parents and a 78% completion rate from students. The overall campaign garnered national attention for the initiative and the school, achieving a notable increase in undergraduate applications—and an impressive rollout of Excellence Within Reach.