Education is part of Widmeyer’s DNA. Our work in higher education includes efforts on behalf of colleges and universities, nonprofits and corporations in this field. We’re known for providing strategic, honest and reliable counsel designed to produce results. Our Research, Digital/Creative and Higher Ed teams work hand in glove to help institutions differentiate their brands, broaden recognition of their unique offerings, develop and implement crisis communications plans, launch initiatives, smartly make use of social media and understand and enhance their reputations.

The Widmeyer team is aided by impressive higher education professionals, including John Burness, Dr. Bob Dickeson and Ted Fiske, who are Senior Counsel to the firm, and members of our Higher Education Advisory Panel. We pride ourselves in bringing great minds together to help solve clients’ needs.

Our team’s expertise is often sought by higher education associations and education companies for speaking engagements and keynote addresses. We will be participating in conferences and Webinars, as well as preparing commentaries for trade and mainstream publications. We welcome opportunities to share our insight on topics ranging from media relations best practices to research-based social media strategy development. Click here for a list of our upcoming speaking engagements and presentations, and recent articles featuring Widmeyer’s expertise.

United Educators Partnership

Widmeyer Communications has partnered with United Educators, the leading provider of risk management and liability insurance to educational institutions, to provide crisis communications coverage to eligible UE members. We are a pre-approved crisis communications service provider for UE’s member schools, colleges and universities that may require specialized planning and communications services for a covered crisis event.

Client Portfolio

Wellesley College
We help the best attract the best.  Twice Widmeyer has been engaged by Wellesley. Most recently, we conducted extensive qualitative and quantitative research with Wellesley’s prospective students and their influencers to determine their opinions on the college admissions process and decision-making factors in college choice. We were able to provide Wellesley with recommendations and assistance with prospective student communications to effectively communicate to, and continue to recruit, high caliber students.

Western Governors University
How do you cut through the clutter to get your institution the attention it deserves? This is our challenge as we work to highlight the impressive Western Governors University (WGU), an accredited, nonprofit online university created by 19 governors. We successfully pitched NBC Nightly News, which featured WGU in its “What Works” segment. A Time magazine reporter agreed with our pitch as well and wrote about “Go Western, Young Man.” The result? WGU has seen a 43 percent increase in enrollment over the past two years.

College Board
Widmeyer has worked with the College Board for more than a dozen years. From the annual release of SAT scores, to the annual Advanced Placement Report to the Nation, to the Cost of College survey, Widmeyer has successfully secured widespread media coverage. In April, Widmeyer helped the College Board publicize a policy briefing titled “Young Lives on Hold: The College Dreams of Undocumented Students.” The event, held on Capitol Hill, garnered national attention through CNN, Univision, Telemundo, the Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, U.S. News and World Report, Inside Higher Ed and many other outlets.

University of North Carolina (UNC) At Asheville
Our team helps to make an institution’s excellence relevant and understood. UNC Asheville needed to raise its profile by differentiating itself. Our research-based strategic and marketing planning identified the most promising messages, messengers and tactics for communicating with prospective students. Once implemented, the new, positive impressions we helped create resulted in increases in prospective student inquiries and applications.

Arizona Board of Regents
Widmeyer is providing strategic counsel to the Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR), which is leading a collaborative, statewide Lumina grant-funded effort, in partnership with community colleges, to investigate ways to expand and enhance the state’s higher education system. ABOR seeks to provide leadership and quality higher education to Arizona’s public university system, including Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, the University of Arizona and their branch campuses.

Princeton University
Princeton engaged Widmeyer Communications to help refine its admissions communications strategy, including developing new messages and collateral materials, in order to resonate with today’s high-achieving students. Widmeyer and Princeton developed a comprehensive marketing and outreach plan to explore awareness of and perceptions about the university. The campaign was devised to test messages and communications tactics that are effective in recruiting top students. The Widmeyer team also conducted a competitive assessment for Princeton, examining how its peer institutions compete for and position themselves with high-achieving students.

Additional Representative Clients

Independent Colleges and Universities:
Bryn Mawr College
College of the Holy Cross
Connecticut College
Duke University
Middlebury College
Northwestern University
New York University
Princeton University
Wake Forest University

Public Colleges and Universities:
College of William & Mary
Miami University of Ohio
Shepherd University
West Virginia University

Higher Education-Related Organizations:
American Association of Community Colleges
Association of American Publishers
Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (formerly NASULGC)
Appalachian Regional Commission
CourseSmart
Lumina Foundation for Education
The McGraw-Hill Companies
Pearson Education
UCLA’s Higher Education Research Institute and Spirituality in Higher Education