Case Study
Elmhurst University
We helped a 150-year-old private university increase transfer student applications by 45% in one year.
Higher Education · Direct Mail · OOH · Email · Print · Community Outreach
Overview
About Elmhurst University
Elmhurst University is a private liberal arts university founded in 1871, consistently ranked among the top colleges in the Midwest by U.S. News & World Report. It offers more than 50 undergraduate majors, four accelerated adult programs, 15 pre-professional programs, and 9 graduate programs.
The Challenge
Where They Started
Facing intense competition from traditional universities, for-profit educational companies, and distance learning programs, Elmhurst was losing the battle for new students. The challenge was differentiating an institution with genuine advantages against competitors with larger budgets and louder voices.
Competitive Enrollment Landscape
A growing field of for-profit and online competitors were aggressively targeting the same prospective students — often with lower tuition and broader accessibility messaging.
Underleveraged Institutional Strengths
Elmhurst's true differentiators — hands-on faculty, vibrant student life, 150 years of community roots — weren't coming through in its marketing.
Declining Application Volume
Without a structured, multi-channel approach to reaching prospective students, application numbers were trending in the wrong direction.
The Solution
What We Did
Extended Elmhurst's core institutional strengths — the personal touch of a hands-on faculty, a vibrant student experience, and 150 years of community foundation — to all forms of media. Deployed direct and personal methods including door hangers, direct mail, email and database marketing, and ZIP-code-targeted direct response inserts, supported by out-of-home advertising, targeted print, and community college and high school publication and postering campaigns.
The Results
What We Delivered
- 45% Increase in Transfer Student Applications
- 24% Increase in Traditional Student Applications
- 20% Increase in Graduate Student Applications
Olander Group brings a high degree of professionalism, energy, and imagination to their work for us. They understand at a deep level both our particular needs and the opportunities that the marketplace presents to us.
Jim Winters
VP of Marketing & Communications — Elmhurst University
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