Adelphi, Md. (August 14, 2018)—University of Maryland University College (UMUC) has launched a new advertising campaign—“Made for You”—that highlights the institution’s historic mission: to bring quality, affordable education to adult and military students outside of the traditional college campus as it has for more than 75 years. The campaign celebrates the hard work and “hustle” that students display as they juggle family, jobs, and even military service while they pursue their educational goals.
“We know our students’ lives are hectic, and they hustle to get things done,” said Erika Orris, the chief marketing officer at UMUC, touching on a theme that runs through the campaign’s television, radio, digital and print ads.
UMUC students don’t just hustle because of their personalities. They hustle because they have lives outside of school, many have families, and all have goals and dreams. And no matter how complicated or difficult their schedules, they dig in and do more in the interest of building the future they want for themselves and for those they love.
“Our mission of providing affordable, accessible, quality education to adults in the workforce has remained unchanged for more than 75 years,” said UMUC President Javier Miyares. “Just as important, our innovative spirit has remained strong and steady and has allowed us to be pioneers in using technology to improve how we teach and how students learn.”
UMUC has prided itself on being in the vanguard. In 1949, it became the first university to send faculty overseas to teach active-duty military students stationed in postwar Europe. In the mid-1990s, the university was an early adopter of the Internet as a platform for offering courses. Today, nearly 95 percent of its courses are fully online or hybrid, with the remainder taught on military bases around the world. And all of UMUC’s 90-plus programs—including in hot fields such as cybersecurity, data analytics, and homeland security—can be completed online.
UMUC has also drawn positive national headlines for student-friendly initiatives, such as replacing costly publisher textbooks in most courses with Open Educational Resources—educational materials in the public domain. And currently, the university is redesigning its academic curriculum to put greater emphasis on experiential learning in which students focus on completing real-life projects rather than theoretical ones.
At the same time, UMUC has maintained a focus on affordability and is justifiably proud of the results.
“Our students can complete an MBA or master’s in cybersecurity or data analytics for less than $25,000—in state or out-of-state—and they can complete it in 18 months if they take one class every term,” Orris said. UMUC’s undergraduate degrees are under $60,000 for out-of-state students, less than many other schools, and the university offers a wide variety of scholarships, both to in-state and out-of-state students, to help make education even more affordable.
UMUC also has established alliances with 96 companies, including GEICO, MedStar Health and the global consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, as well as a first-of-its-kind agreement forged in 2014 with the federal government’s Office of Personnel Management, to help build the skills of employees through discounted tuition programs.
Watch the ads:
“Hustle” TV Commercial
“Made for You” TV Commercial
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