Every fall thousands of students are sent to college to follow their dreams, follow in the footsteps of another family member, or simply to make Mom and Dad proud . Many students fresh out of high school aren't sure why they're going to school, but they know they want a higher education to better themselves later in life. Now, if most students don't know what career path they want to follow, how do they choose the university that's best for them? They don't. Students choose college not based on what it has to offer academically, but what it has to offer environmentally. Students look through brochures and see dorms, student life, clubs, organizations and activities that the college has to offer them. Universities sell their expertise to potential students by offering everything they can to make their campus the most attractive. They cast their student and college life as their primary focus when choosing a college. Universities sell and market themselves to attract students and increase their numbers. What happened to higher education? It should be about bettering yourself and making something of yourself so that once you graduate you can be successful. Right? No. Graduating from a four-year program does not guarantee success to anyone if they have not worked hard to earn that degree. Education was never meant to be easy and should not be made easy like universities do nowadays. Colleges recruit and advertise to attract enrollment numbers and try to make their campus the best choice. It's no longer about higher education, it's about sales, recruiting and marketing skills. Since this is no longer about higher education, what does this mean for those seeking to be influential in the future? T...... middle of paper...... selling your campus to potential students whether it's for sports, college life or maybe even academics. But why do universities need to start reaching out to students at such a young age? They want to be able to allow the student to consider all of their options or they want the student to know right away that they want to attend this school because their dorms are cool and decked out with flat screens. Universities sell their campuses and assets to attract potential students. That said, the marketing and recruiting behind the college is the whole show. Colleges don't pick random students to recruit, they are strategic about it and do so to take advantage of them as best as possible. Colleges focus primarily on increasing enrollment and attendance rates, a good student body with good academic scores, and they do all this by specifically targeting.