Admissions spur publicity competition

Time of India

22-05-2025

Dr Onkar Singh has been the founder Vice Chancellor of the Madan Mohan Malaviya University of Technology, Gorakhpur (U.P.), the first non-affiliating technical University of the U.P. state. Currently, he is Vice Chancellor of Veer Madho Singh Bhandari Uttarakhand Technical University, Dehradun (Uttarakhand)- INDIA. LESS ... MORE
Like every year, with the start of admission season, the print and electronic media, public places, roadsides, etc. are flooded with advertisements calling for admissions in educational institutions. This shift from issuing a precise admission notice to huge captivating advertisements in public spaces has become a common practice in educational institutions of all levels i.e. primary, secondary, and higher education institutions (HEIs). Nevertheless, the approach and methodology vary for different levels of educational institutions because of the differing expectations of the target audience. However, the core intent behind advertisements remains to attract students for admission. Perhaps, the upsurge in the number of self-financed private institutions and the inherent challenge of maximising admission revenue for their sustenance and growth are the obvious reasons along with other compelling circumstances that have seeded stiff competition amongst private educational institutions for admissions.
With the admission advertising becoming a new norm, it becomes worthy of being looked into from various perspectives as the creative and impactful audio-video or written content in the publicity materials of HEIs— used across print, digital platforms, outdoor advertising, and more —reflect substantial intellectual and financial investments. Undoubtedly, such advertisements with catchy content attract attention and spark interest in students and society in general. But the degree of engagement, memory retention about the institution, emotional connect, recalling institution, etc. depend upon the mode whether print or electronic and also varies for Generation Z and Millennials.
Delving into details of advertising by the HEIs, general showcasing is about their accomplishments like, student placements, placement salary packages, accreditations, rankings, IPRs, MoUs with eminent institutions within the country and abroad, industry linkages, infrastructure, facilities, institutional recognitions, programme specifics, and other things worth display to create impact. In many circumstances, the attributes showcased contrast from institution to institution and all attempts are made to tacitly establish a competitive edge over the others.
Here are some of the examples highlighting the vulnerabilities associated with a few of the publicity attributes specially rankings, media reports, collaborations, and placements.
Ranking: Looking at the institutional ranking it is evident that there is a large number of ranking frameworks available which offer inter-se ranks that are not coherent with the public perception of the respective HEI. Further, the credibility and acceptance of all ranking frameworks are not alike but the ranks projected in advertisements may create entirely different perspectives about the respective HEI and the deception could affect the stakeholders adversely.
Media reports: The media reports of HEIs play a significant role in perception building. Therefore, sometimes the HEIs push certain content which gets published in the form of advertorials which look like news items. In a situation where the majority of the target audience may not be able to distinguish between the news items and advertorials, an opinion built on the advertorials could be misleading. Given that news items in print media enjoy greater credibility, any such initiative of paid advertorials or deceptive presentations may deprive the aspirants of getting exposed to the real standing of the particular HEI.
Collaborations: The number of collaborations keeps on happening amongst HEIs or HEIs with industry within the country or across the countries as a part of the collective qualitative growth of the education ecosystem. These engagements with other HEIs or industries/organisations could be for running joint research, degree programmes, internships, projects, or short-term vocational training. In certain instances, the well-crafted taglines referring to these collaborations by the particular HEI create wrong perceptions. Quite likely, the way such capitalization of the collaboration is done by presenting it in a delusive manner in the public domain may not be in the knowledge of the respective collaborator and faintly impact them adversely due to others capitalizing on their brand value.
Placements: In many situations, the HEIs also publish select placement statistics which could be comprised of the number of placements, type of placements, names of potential employers, salary package, etc. These statistics showing worthy packages largely affect the mood and plans of admission seekers. Nevertheless, the placement depends upon the potential of respective students and the timely facilitation of job opportunities by the respective HEI and cannot be deemed to be the privilege of every student. There have also been instances of flaunting a few placements with hefty packages which do not survive for long, yet misleading promotion continues to create the impression of outstanding placement.
Thus, regardless of the admission aspirants of higher education being slightly mature as compared to those at primary and secondary levels, at times, the presentation made for one or more of the features listed in the advertisement does not allow them to get the correct picture of the respective HEIs. It goes without saying that the influence made upon innocent minds through camouflaged publicity materials and admission agents leads them to the portals of particular HEI and they are deprived of the possible opportunities of studying at the other institutions suiting them. The rigorous advertising campaign for reaching out to the maximum number of admission seekers has positively affected the admissions in various HEIs through brand building and it is compelling others to go for similar campaign.
Alongside, the advertising campaign also involves huge expenditure and the money spent on publicity is a fraction of the total revenue from the higher education sector. This contribution to the economy is a function of the size of the higher education sector economy. A report by Statista shows that the size of the higher education market in India was around six billion US dollars in 2022 and the annual growth rate is expected to be nearly 10 per cent up to 2028. As per Statista, the US educational service industry had spent $1.5 billion on advertising in 2023 with Purdue University Global spending $83.48 million on advertisements in 2023. Thus, going by the global trend, there is a sizeable spending on publicity by the HEIs in the country as well. The moot point behind this expenditure is about the source from where this money comes, specially in a developing nation like ours, the fees are points of concern for the sizeable population. Obviously, in a self-financed setup, every expenditure is a part of the fee charged by the students, meaning thereby that any reduction in the spending on the publicity campaign will eventually ease out the students.
Simultaneously, there is the engagement of admission counsellors or agents or managers on certain commissions for convincing students to seek admission in particular HEIs through special discounts, freebies etc. Needless to say, these admission influencers engaged by HEI resort to all possible ways to ensure admission of the student(s) by advocating the edge of the respective HEI over others in a rightful or deceitful manner. Typically, students come across the reality after taking admission but are helpless as it becomes too late by that time. The money spent as a commission to admission agents or freebies to aspirants also comes from the fees charged by the students in the HEIs.
Way forward:
Going by the fast growth of HEIs in the private sector, the stiff competition amongst them for admitting a maximum number of students is likely to continue as an annual affair. Also, given the self-financed nature of private sector institutions, it is quite difficult to restrict them from devising their mechanism to ensure admissions. However, a certain degree of regulations on delusive practices meant for only attracting students for admission is inevitable to ensure fair competition and prevent anti-competitive practices while aiming at reducing the cost of education for the overall good of the students. These regulations are also critically needed for protecting student interests and sustaining healthy competition amongst HEIs while ensuring that the underlying philosophy of maximising access to education to all is sustained with equity.
Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Disclaimer
Views expressed above are the author's own.