Expanding Access Through Strategic Storytelling
Challenge
A regional community college had a free-tuition program whose impact was beginning to be felt, but high school students did not fully understand the opportunity and municipalities and regional stakeholders were not yet fully connected to the story.
Solution
We helped shift the narrative and tell the existing work more aggressively to larger audiences using limited resources. Advanced storytelling, marketing collateral, and one-to-one meetings communicated the opportunity, including free tuition paired with 100 hours of community service each year. We also built bridges to municipalities and stakeholders. The principle was to connect good work already happening through uniform language and a foundational strategy.
Results
Applications grew, municipal engagement strengthened, and the five counties and included cities saw benefits in student retention, workforce development, and economic activity.
A free-tuition program at a regional community college had grown organically and the region was beginning to see its impact. The work was strong, but not everyone who could benefit or support it understood the opportunity. High school students needed to know about it, while municipalities and regional stakeholders needed to see how it could strengthen workforce development and the broader community.We worked with the college to shift and expand the narrative using limited resources. Advanced storytelling, marketing collateral, and one-to-one meetings helped communicate the path to free tuition and 100 hours of community service each year. We also created uniform language that allowed the institution and its partners to tell the same story. The principle was not to reinvent the program, but to make the existing good work visible, understandable, and connected to a larger regional purpose.Applications grew and the five counties and included cities saw improvements in student retention, workforce development, and economic activity. Municipal engagement also strengthened. The project demonstrated how focused strategy, strong storytelling, consistent language, and foundational work can elevate an established program to another level.
