Attributes Used to Promote Adult Continuing Education Degree Programs in a Metropolitan Newspaper

Abstract

Commentators in the profession are asking why adult continuing education students seem preoccupied over getting “a good grade” and “finishing school quickly” rather than pausing to consider how the teaching/learning process helps their personal growth and valuing learning for learning's sake. The purpose of this study was to identify, categorize, and analyze attributes used in print advertisements to promote adult continuing education degree programs. We identified the range of attributes used by four-year universities and colleges in their print advertising during a nine-year period, thereby determining a typology of attributes and accounting for the number of times each attribute appeared. The study shows that expediency, flexibility, and convenience are by far the most prominent features attributes used to market adult continuing education degree programs, far outdistancing personal growth and professional development benefits attributes and developing an affinity for learning for learning's sake. Implications for practice are provided.