Author: By Karen Hayes, Globe Correspondent

Date: SUNDAY, February 14, 1999

Page: 1

Section: South Weekly

BROCKTON -- One lucky Massasoit Community College student is headed for a free trip to Florida. Another is on her way to free skiing at a Vermont resort. A third is off to a show at a Boston theater, free tickets in hand.

These winners, from Weymouth, Brockton and Easton, entered their names in a drawing for the free trips when they registered for spring courses last month at Massasoit's Brockton and Canton campuses.

The raffle was part of a promotion supplied by a Boston radio station after the college bought $15,000 in radio air time to plug its tuition of $72 a credit, its day, evening and weekend courses, and its two convenient campuses. It was aimed at boosting registration for spring term, traditionally a slower enrollment period than fall.

And the strategy seems to have worked. Registration is up 12.75 percent over last spring, Massasoit officials say, making for a current student population of 6,225 at the two-year commuter school.

Not long ago, an inexpensive and conveniently located education was enough to entice students onto public college campuses. Now, finding themselves in an increasingly competitive market, state schools are resorting to familiar corporate marketing ploys to target their specific student demographic and increase enrollment.

And, college officials insist, such promotional gimmicks in no way cheapen the educational product. They are simply tools to help their school stand out from the pack.

"It is another way to attract people onto campus," said Robert Rose, Massasoit president. "When they get here, we try to give them a good sales pitch."

But not everyone agrees such promotions are a good idea. Barbara Anderson of the Peabody-based anti-tax group Citizens for Limited Taxation said any college that has to promote itself with free trips probably should not be in the education business.

"It is possible there are more colleges than we need and if they can't attract enough students, then the word is consolidation. . . ," Anderson said. "State colleges are there for the kids who otherwise wouldn't get an education. They are grateful the school is there for them. Schools shouldn't have to coax them to come with promotional rewards."

She attributed such promotions to instinct to survive more than to serve. "They are trying to continue their existence, like any government bureaucracy, long after their need is gone," she said.

But student numbers continue to rise at Massasoit, Rose said, due in large part to aggressive marketing that hits its target population of older students where they live -- at local movie theaters, where the school shows advertisements before films; in their homes, through television ads aired over such Media One stations as ESPN; and through the first-ever drawing for a trip for two to Florida.

Last fall, Massasoit had the largest enrollment increase, 13.5 percent, of all 29 state colleges, Rose said. "I'd like to think some of it had to do with our approach to advertising," he said.

State colleges need to stay strong because of the ebb and flow of the pool of students, depending on the economy, officials say. Potential students are looking at a broader range of options in today's strong economy. Many can afford state or private college; others may opt for jobs with unemployment rates so low. But all that could change quickly with an economic downturn.

On both campuses, Massasoit has moved toward a seven-day-a-week program. In Brockton, it has put up welcome banners and color-coded street signs to make the school feel more like a student community. It offers 850 credit and noncredit courses and works in partnership with surrounding schools, such as Bridgewater State, Wheaton, and Stonehill colleges, to offer some courses at those schools at the Massasoit price. And, students get a 33 percent tuition waiver at other state schools if they transfer from Massasoit with a 3.0 grade point average.

But these and other Massasoit advantages won't benefit potential students if they do not know about them, officials say.

The drawing, which radio station Oldies 103.3 FM threw in with the three-week ad campaign by the school, offered $2,400 in trips and drew more than 200 entries. "They buy the ad and we think, what can we do to really make sure this campaign works for them?" said Karen Reddington, station promotion director.

Massasoit officials say it was just part of an aggressive promotional campaign geared at catching the attention of potential students so that they could see for themselves what the school has to offer. Massasoit's advertising budget is about $300,000, out of a total budget of $30.5 million, said Edward Lyons, public relations director.

"President [William M.] Bulger brought Doctor J and Bill Cosby into the ads for UMass," Rose said. "I think there is a feeling that you have to get the word out there in ways that appeal to students. We are not alone."

Richard Cost, vice president for institutional advancement at Bridgewater State College, the other state college in the South Weekly region, agreed. Education has improved and tuition has dropped at all state schools, he said. That makes for more competition because they all offer a quality product at a lower price.

"One of the very important roles of a community college is to be an open door, if you will, an enticing door, to students who are on the fence, who are not too sure if college is for them," Cost said.

"If you need to provide an additional incentive, a hook, to encourage students to look at that pathway, you do it, and if it works, that's fine . . . You have to reach teenagers today where they are," Cost said. "They may not be sitting in the library researching what colleges they want to attend."

Bridgewater State relies heavily on promotion over the Internet, he said, because that is where many potential students spend their time. It also advertises on the MBTA because there is a train station on campus. Bridgewater's total enrollment of 9,000 day, evening, undergraduate and graduate students continues to increase, he said. The school spends about $150,000 on advertising and promotion out of a $50 million budget, he said.

Although these college officials never heard before of a college promotional drawing for free trips, they say Massasoit is far from alone in trying to stand out in today's market.

Stanley Koplik, chancellor of the Board of Higher Education, said he has heard of the University of Vermont offering chances to win a mountain bike.

"The competition for students is intense, particularly when you have a high employment economy and fewer students available to attend college," Koplik said. "Especially on the community college side. When the economy is in a downturn there are many more students . . . . A number of colleges all over the region are seeking students, so you look for some advantage in name recognition and program offering."

Massasoit, a state school that operates on tax dollars as well as student tuition, did not pay for the contest's trips. Oldies 103.3, whose target audience of age 27 and older falls into the same age category as the college's student population, exchanged on-air time for such items as plane tickets and hotel rooms with commercial airlines and hotels to put together the trip package. Entry blanks were available at Massasoit's campuses, but contestants did not have to sign up for courses to enter the drawing.

The college paid for the advertising that led to the promotion, a legitimate expense, Koplik said. The Board of Higher Education sets policy and tuition at Massachusetts's 29 state colleges, and works with the schools to establish their budgets.

Three students were prize winners. Jane Jensen of Weymouth won the grand prize trip to the Sunspree Resort Singer Island in West Palm Beach, which included airfare and five nights accommodations; Susan Thomas of Brockton won second prize, a trip for two to Smuggler's Notch ski resort in Vermont, which included two nights accommodations and ski passes; and Blanche McCarthy of Easton won third prize, a pair of tickets to "Shear Madness" at the Charles Playhouse in Boston. All are enrolled in Massasoit's spring term.

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