Across borders, higher education is confronting a shared challenge: declining public trust and growing skepticism about its value. In the United States, those trends have sharpened dramatically over the past decade, shaping policy debates, funding decisions, and public discourse that increasingly frames college as a private transaction rather than a public good. Recognizing both the urgency and the global implications of this shift, CASE has partnered with BVK, a CASE Educational Partner and marketing agency, to launch College | Proud Sponsor of America at Its Best, a national public service campaign. Learn more at whycollegematters.org.
The campaign’s purpose is straightforward but ambitious: to rebuild trust in U.S. higher education by reminding the public of what colleges and universities make possible—not just for those who enroll, but for society as a whole. While the campaign speaks to an American audience, its underlying challenge will feel familiar to many CASE members around the world. In the UK, Canada, and Australia, institutions are navigating political polarization, heightened scrutiny of return on investment, and pressure to define education’s value narrowly through short-term outcomes.
What sets the Proud Sponsor campaign apart is its deliberate reframing. It does not focus on recruitment, rankings, or individual success stories. Instead, it positions “college” itself as a shared national asset—the proud sponsor of economic prosperity, workforce innovation, public health, democratic vitality, and national security. Drawing on the language and structure of classic public-service advertising, the campaign is values-based, nonpartisan, and designed to resonate with broad audiences, including those individuals who have not earned a degree.
Notably, testing with 2,000 Americans shows that even a single campaign exposure measurably improves attitudes, with messages about public benefits—especially workforce readiness, democracy, and community well-being—outperforming traditional ROI-based arguments among even the most skeptical audiences.
Progress to date has been significant. Since launching in late 2025, the campaign has grown into a broad coalition effort. More than twenty national associations—including CASE, the American Council on Education, the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges, and the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association—have formally endorsed the initiative, building sector-wide alignment around a shared narrative. So far, hundreds of institutions and systems have downloaded free toolkits to use creative assets and integrate Proud Sponsor messages into their own communications.
Awareness has also expanded through earned media. Coverage in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Ed, and The Hechinger Report, alongside podcasts and conference sessions, has helped elevate the campaign from a marketing effort to a sector-wide strategy.
College Proud Sponsor continues to grow organically through CASE member leadership and engagement. To reach the initiative’s full potential, CASE is seeking foundation, corporate, and philanthropic partners to support broader regional and national media placement.
CASE members worldwide may be watching with interest, as the campaign offers a valuable test case: how the sector can speak effectively with one voice without sacrificing each institution’s identity. If the strategy is successful, CASE will welcome opportunities to extend the effort in partnership with higher ed leaders in other countries on similar efforts.