More people than ever before are visiting Hillsdale College’s website, watching its videos, and enrolling in its courses.
The college attracted 10 million website visitors, 1.3 million new followers, 77 million YouTube viewers, and 560,000 new online course accounts in the last year.
“I think there are two important reasons for this growth,” said Kyle Murnen, director of online learning. “First, our faculty are incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about their subjects, which makes it fun to learn with them. Second, so many colleges have abandoned a core education that many people complete their education without a serious study of great literature, history, theology, and philosophy.”
The college had nearly 1 million online course enrollments the past academic year. Murnen said that while many students are classical education teachers or homeschoolers, the vast majority take the courses out of a place of curiosity.
“We have a lot of students write to us that this is the kind of education they wished they would have received while in school,” Murnen said. “We try to attract new audiences by creating videos that emphasize the quality of our teachers and reveal the beauty and importance of a given subject.”
Juan Davalos, director of marketing for online learning, said the department has adjusted how it films. “Introduction to Aristotle’s Ethics” shows students interacting with professors in a classroom, while “Supply-Side Economics and American Prosperity with Arthur Laffer” is presented in a documentary style.
“These changes have affected the demographic distribution of our students,” Davalos said. “While half a decade ago, our main demographic was 55 year olds and above, now all age groups are almost equal in distribution, with the 35 to 45 year olds being the fastest growing demographic.”
Among online course students, 13% are under 25, 15% are 25-35, 19% are 35-44, 17% are 45-54, 20% are 55-64, and 16% are over the age of 65, Murnen said.
“The goal for our courses is to provide the best possible online representation of the college’s mission and curriculum,” Murnen said. “It’s been especially fun over the past few years to expand our offerings to include courses in mathematics and the natural sciences. This has not only filled out our online core curriculum, but also demonstrated that there is a large group of people interested in these courses.”
One recent adjustment the external affairs department made was introducing book-specific online courses instead of survey courses. Rather than making survey courses like Great Books 101 and 102, for example, the college has shifted toward topics like “Dante’s Divine Comedy” or “Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.” Murnen said it makes the course less daunting, and more likely the student will actually read the book.
“One of our students recently reached out to us to tell us about her experience with the online courses,” Davalos said. “She is part of a drug and alcohol addiction recovery program that takes our courses to fulfill their academic requirements. She said that so far, ‘Introduction to Aristotle’s Ethics’ is her favorite course and that her favorite thing about the course was learning that ‘every choice that we make etches into our soul.’”
Another area of increased growth within marketing is Imprimis. Shanna Cote, senior art director, said the publication now has 6.48 million subscriptions.
“I think especially with the way the media is currently reporting, it’s refreshing to get stuff like Imprimis in your mailbox,” Cote said. “It’s definitely a beacon, something that they’re finally getting that they can resonate with.”
Cote said she hopes to create graphic designs that express the culture of the college, especially with events like the Center for Constructive Alternatives.
“When I first arrived here and started working at the college, all the CCA invites kind of looked the same,” Cote said. “That was one of the first things that I tried to push for, was changing out the look of the invites. I have people now when I meet them on campus, they’re like, ‘Oh, you do the CCA designs!’ You know, 10 years ago, they got the invites and now it’s like little pieces of art that they hang on their fridge.”
With more than 1,500 speakers hosted since its beginnings in 1972, the CCA is considered one of the largest collegiate lecture series in the nation according to the college website.
“I just want something warm and welcoming to attract people to come here,” Cote said. “Obviously, we pick a lot of controversial topics, but I still want people to come with an open mind and to be able to hear everything about these events.”
Bryan Springer, the creative director of marketing, said it’s important for the college to tell a story through its advertising.
“Print pieces such as brochures can become important physical artifacts that embody beauty,” Springer said. “Not all organizations value printed material the way the college does. I believe this is an important differentiator in our marketing communications. Marketing the college costs a significant amount of money, so I often say, ‘If it is not beautiful, it is not worth doing.’”
