Challenge:

Enroll students of all backgrounds in Modern States’ Freshman Year for Free, a new philanthropic effort that combats the cost of higher-ed with free online college courses taught by professors at top U.S. schools.

Fresh Perspective:

  • Create awareness of the official launch
  • Drive registrations among: high school students/graduates, college students, adult learners and military
  • Generate positive coverage in recognized outlets that would bring credibility to the initiative
  • Support the program’s efforts to attract partners reaching myriad constituents in a variety of geographies
  • Encourage learners not to just register, but to take at least one course
  • Have one or more students fulfill the promise of taking enough credits to earn his or her Freshman Year for Free within a year of launch

Authentic Approach

RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH

  • Developed deep understanding of U.S. higher-education affordability crisis
  • Examined history of College Level Examination Program (CLEP), conducted media audit

MAKE A SPLASH WITH A LOW-BUDGET LAUNCH

  • Secured even-break launch-day exclusives in The Chronicle of Higher Education and Bloomberg News
  • Held launch-day Facebook LIVE with edX, the College Board, program partners with many followers

KEEP UP MOMENTUM

  • Developed mat release, conducted national radio tour, promoted partnerships
  • Pursued contributed content opportunities for Modern States CEO Steve Klinsky

Meaningful Impact

  • More than 50,000 people have registered for Freshman Year For Free since launch, equivalent to a large public university student body
  • More than 30,000 people have taken at least one Freshman Year For Free class — a higher than expected “conversion” rate. With the average college class costing $1,782, that equates to at least $53 million in student savings during the program’s first six months
  • Media coverage since launch generated a reach of 127,497,776, including Reuters, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, The Washington Post, 
  • The Facebook LIVE launch event reached 90,780 users’ newsfeeds
  • The national radio tour reached 11,453,140 listeners via 10 interviews
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