EMU sets competitive tone with tuition freeze

Wednesday, May 12, 2010 | Source: The Associated Press

Keeping the cost of higher education frozen in place has done more than grab headlines. It has made the rest of Michigan's universities take notice and start to find new ways to compete for the state's best students.

Excerpt:

Billboards, radio, TV and Internet ads are blaring news about Eastern Michigan University's freeze on tuition, fees and dorm rates for the fall.

The $320,000 paid media blitz and a coordinated publicity campaign are part of the school's effort to make the gamble pay off, that increased enrollment can cover the cost of its "0-0-0" program.

Other schools are watching the Ypsilanti school's effort with a mix of admiration and anxiety. Squeezed between rising operating costs and falling state aid, the state's 15 public universities and 28 community colleges are fighting to attract and keep students whose own families are feeling the same economic pains.

"We watch what happens at our sister institutions," said Western Michigan University spokeswoman Cheryl Roland. She said Eastern Michigan's campaign was hard to miss when she recently visited the Detroit area.

"I did see Eastern's billboards in several locations," Roland said. "They're pretty plentiful — zero-zero-zero."

Read the rest of the story here.