More colleges are advertising with online media companies like Buzzfeed to attract students to their programs and institutions.

In 2016, 86 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds in the United States used social media like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and others, according to the Pew Research Center.

Stephen Loguidice, the vice president of brand development for Buzzfeed, says his company was one of the first to respond to changes in how young people react to information and advertising.

Loguidice explained that new, online media takes a different approach to advertising to the youth market.

“With social, now [companies] have to think about, ‘How do I say what they want to hear and not necessarily what I want to say?’

"And at the end of the day, now [companies are] competing with friends and family and co-workers and trusted news sources and all these other things.”

Studies show that younger people rely on the opinions and shares of their friends and family on social media more than traditional approaches. A recent study showed that youths say that nearly half of news on social is fake.

Buzzfeed studies its most popular content and creates advertising in the same style for clients like universities. For example, the online music service Spotify paid Buzzfeed for a branded marketing campaign in 2014. Buzzfeed created a story for them with the headline “15 Of The Best Bands To Come From College Campuses.”





Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was one of the first universities to partner with Buzzfeed in 2015. The website created an advertising campaign for the university that received almost 800,000 views online.

Shortly after, schools like Indiana University and the University of Wyoming began working with Buzzfeed. Chad Baldwin, vice president of communications at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, said his school paid Buzzfeed $100,000 in 2016 for two campaigns.

He admits this can be costly and says the school still send brochures and information through the mail. But UW is very happy with the Buzzfeed material, which has been viewed over 100,000 times, he says.



“There are a lot of the traditional things we still use,” Baldwin said. But “the social media element is huge and anyone who resists engaging in those [ways] is probably going to get left behind.”

Jay Baer is the creator of Convince & Convert, a marketing company that deals mostly with social media. (He is also a parent of a high school student choosing a college.) Baer says many media companies create this type of branded advertising, including large newspapers like the New York Times, for clients.

Universities should have considered this method of advertising much sooner, he says.

Jennifer Cronin is a professor of marketing and social media in the Mendoza School of Business at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. She cautions schools to be careful about losing the public's trust if the online material is considered offensive or untrustworthy.

“Colleges are supposed to be very elite and [centered] on academics, Cronin said. “And so, when you use these other [methods], if you do it poorly then there is the chance that you could harm your reputation.”

What do you think is the best way for universities to share their message with the current generation of young people? Should colleges use marketing like Buzzfeed?

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Ruth Chane, a computer science major from Ethiopia, writes about her experiences settling into student life at Whitman College in the U.S. state of Washington.

"The community at Whitman College made sure I felt welcomed even before I stepped foot on campus," she says.

Read her essay here.

In The Student Life, the student newspaper for the Claremont Colleges, a consortium of five liberal art colleges and two graduate schools in Claremont, California, student Rochelle Lu writes about readjusting to her Shanghai home after spending a semester in the United States.

Read the full story here.

Cedarville University in the U.S. state of Ohio says it’s got more than 140 international students representing 44 countries.

Here, the school interviews Jonathan Sutton, director of international student services. He talks about his job and the opportunities for international students on campus.

Read the full article here.

Morehouse College, a private, historically Black liberal arts college in the U.S. state of Georgia, offers a guide for international students interested in attending the school.

Among the tips to apply and thrive at Morehouse:

• Take advantage of the school’s orientation program
• Turn to the school’s Center for Academic Success for tutoring, support and more
• Immerse yourself in campus life via clubs and societies

Read the full article here.

WASHINGTON — 

The administration of President Donald Trump said on Monday it will review Columbia University's federal contracts and grants over allegations of antisemitism, which it says the educational institution has shown inaction in tackling.

Rights advocates note rising antisemitism, Islamophobia and anti-Arab bias since U.S. ally Israel's devastating military assault on Gaza began after Palestinian Hamas militants' deadly October 2023 attack.

The Justice Department said a month ago it formed a task force to fight antisemitism. The U.S. Departments of Health and Education and the General Services Administration jointly made the review announcement on Monday.

"The Federal Government's Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism is considering Stop Work Orders for $51.4 million in contracts between Columbia University and the Federal Government," the joint statement said.

The agencies said no contracting actions had been taken yet.

"The task force will also conduct a comprehensive review of the more than $5 billion in federal grant commitments to Columbia University."

The agencies did not respond to requests for comment on whether there were similar reviews over allegations of Islamophobia and anti-Arab bias.

Columbia had no immediate comment. It previously said it made efforts to tackle antisemitism.

College protests

Trump has signed an executive order to combat antisemitism and pledged to deport non-citizen college students and others who took part in pro-Palestinian protests.

Columbia was at the center of college protests in which demonstrators demanded an end to U.S. support for Israel due to the humanitarian crisis caused by Israel's assault on Gaza. There were allegations of antisemitism and Islamophobia in protests and counter-protests.

During last summer's demonstrations around the country, classes were canceled, some university administrators resigned and student protesters were suspended and arrested.

While the intensity of protests has decreased in recent months, there were some demonstrations last week in New York after the expulsion of two students at Columbia University-affiliated Barnard College and after New York Governor Kathy Hochul ordered the removal of a Palestinian studies job listing at Hunter College.

A third student at Barnard College has since been expelled, this one related to the occupation of the Hamilton Hall building at Columbia last year.