Founder's College

 Making a National Media Splash

The Opportunity: In 2023, Butler University planned to launch Founder’s College, a two-year college designed to provide historically underserved students with increased access and improved affordability to higher education. Butler enlisted Pen+Principle to help elevate the story of its new college on a national stage – and thereby show how Butler is pioneering more affordable pathways for education beyond high school.

Pen+Principle’s Approach:  Pen+Principle worked alongside the Butler team and Come to Believe, a nonprofit partner whose model the two-year college is based on, to help position the story in a way that would attract local and national attention. Key to gaining traction was highlighting Butler’s innovative approach to addressing the cost of college by offering a $10,000, four-year degree for students of Founder’s College who matriculate to Butler’s four-year programs. Human storytelling also proved key, and we focused on showing how the program would be successful by highlighting the experiences of graduates of other programs using the Come to Believe model. We also captured a high school student's perspective on why such a program would be beneficial.

Results: The story achieved pickup and syndication in 24 publications, TV broadcasts, and newsletters, including CNN, Forbes, Bloomberg Radio, The Indianapolis Star, Indianapolis Business Journal, Chronicle of Higher Education, and Inside Higher Ed. This media coverage generated $70,700 in advertising value equivalency and a potential news reach of 7.64 million. The initial success of the launch has set up Founder’s College for ongoing coverage and interest around key milestones, such as selecting a dean for the college and announcing a $2.5 million philanthropic gift.