With 11 online courses available to the public, Hillsdale continues to expand its influence on American political thought.
Its latest online course offering is titled “The Federalist Papers,” and the courses now have advertisements on various television networks.
“One reason for having a course on ‘The Federalist’ is that the book is centrally important to understanding the Constitution as it was written and also to restoring constitutionalism in our time,” Director of Programs for External Affairs Matt Bell said.
This course functions as an extension of Hillsdale’s Constitution 101 course, Bell added.
The online class began on Feb. 23 of this year with College President Larry Arnn’s lecture on the Articles of Confederation and the Constitutional Convention, according to Bell.
“Lectures have subsequently been released weekly on Mondays and will continue through the 27th of April with the release of the 10th and final lecture,” Bell said.
There are 85 total Federalist papers; consequently, a study of all of them would consume extensive time and resources. The material was cut down because of this.
“Due to the nature of online courses, we couldn’t cover the entire book. However, we cover a majority of papers by explaining some of the most important themes set forth in ‘The Federalist,’” Bell said.
According to the online course description, some of the topics discussed are “the problem of majority faction, separation of powers, and the three branches of government.”
Similar to the other online classes Hillsdale offers, “The Federalist Papers” originated as an on-campus course. Due to high demand, the course is now offered online as well.
Hillsdale College now advertises for The Federalist Papers alongside Constitution 101 and other online courses.
Director of Marketing Bill Gray talked about Hillsdale’s promotion strategy.
“The focus of the college’s online course advertising right now is the Constitution 101 course,” he said. “We are also advertising other courses, such as ‘The Federalist Papers,’ on digital channels such as social media.”
Alongside traditional advertisement on conservative talk radio networks, Hillsdale has recently attempted to publicize the online courses in a new manner.
“The college is testing advertising this course on selected national TV networks, such as news, history, and religious networks,” Gray said. “The test cable television campaign for Constitution 101 will end in mid-April.”
Hillsdale will examine the effectiveness of this experiment and continue from there.
The course is also promoted to those who have previously enrolled in a Hillsdale College online course, according to Gray.
Many of these campaigns target a specific audience.
“We try to offer the courses to those who are interested in similar topics,” Grays said. “For example, Facebook offers the opportunity to target ads for, say, American Heritage, to people who have expressed a direct or indirect interest in American history.”
Gray discussed the marketing plan going forward for Hillsdale, social media and radio advertisements will continue year-round as long as they remain effective, while as stated earlier the television promotions will be under review in mid-April.
The commercials and advertisements are effective as the new course has been well received and the others continue to thrive.
“‘The Federalist Papers’ is doing extremely well. It has more than 25,000 enrollments to date, and the course is only in its fifth week,” Gray said.
