New Mexico Highlands University

Challenge: A small school yet culturally diverse, New Mexico Highlands University (NMHU) faced increased competition from larger institutions across the state and in neighboring areas. Yet in crafting their story, we took what could be a negative and turned it on its head: “Some people call us small. Like there’s a problem with that.” A smaller school will give students room to grow. Let them feel seen. Small means a personalized education with mentoring by an award-winning faculty who get to know you by name. Small is the size of your classes but not your opportunities. Small means more opportunities to shine and more chances to go big.

Overview: AU deployed a team to multiple campuses to spend time with students, faculty and administration to understand the NMHU brand and delve deeper into the devotion and pride students have for family — both their family at home and their family on campus. The new approach included an omnichannel digital media plan consisting of three unique creative approaches. A new AI-generated video brought existing photography to life when there was no money for a new video production.

Results: Encouraging students to start small and go big, we saw an 8% increase in undergraduate enrollment at our Las Vegas campus (which was our focus). The new freshman class was the largest since 2016, resulting in a 34% increase. The university also saw a 22% increase in the number of undergraduate transfers to the LV campus. And for the first time in many years, campus housing was at capacity.