Goal Two

Goal 2: Strengthen Gonzaga’s brand position as a premier Jesuit, liberal arts-based institution as indicated by elevating key factors including academic excellence, career preparedness, and value. (Target: 2020)

Academic Excellence

While Academic Excellence is a result of many individual and collective commitments, rankings by reputable sources are a commonly referenced indicator of academic strength and brand position. In Fall 2019 Gonzaga’s brand position was significantly strengthened by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education reclassifying Gonzaga as a “Doctoral/Professional University,” which led to U.S. News and World Report ranking the University in its “National Universities” category, where GU landed in the top 100 National Universities. Find more rankings here.

Career Preparedness and Alumni Success

The success of our graduates is a major brand factor. The following two studies show high levels of success and support brand growth.

  • Approximately 95.5% of Gonzaga's 2019 graduates were employed, continuing their education, or serving as volunteers (2019 First Destination Survey Report, June 2020)
  • 92% of Gonzaga graduates are employed 10 years after graduation (Zippia)
  • Recognized for having “Best Alumni Network” (The Princeton Review) 

Value

Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine ranks Gonzaga University the 21st best value among private universities in the nation (Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine, 2019). Kiplinger’s also ranks Gonzaga the 62nd best value among all colleges and universities (public and private) nationwide.

Enrollment and Fundraising

Meeting enrollment and fundraising goals are the best indicators of a strong brand in which students and alumni/friends/donors wish to invest in their future and the University’s future.

Although the Covid-19 pandemic presented a tremendous challenge to all universities across the country, Gonzaga plans to welcome more than 1,350 first-year students in the fall of 2021 – a record number that exceeds the admission target. This class has an average unweighted GPA of 3.7 and an average composite SAT score of 1316. This class is also the most ethnically and racially diverse in our history at 30.7%. In addition, Gonzaga’s retention rate remains among the nation’s highest at 94%. Finally, transfer and law enrollment are both up significantly, and overall graduate enrollment is strong.

In terms of fundraising, annual giving remains stable, even through challenging times, with the University exceeding its Annual Fund target in fiscal year 2021, reaching $3.3M (increase of 106% over previous year). Prior to the launch of the last campaign in 2015, Gonzaga Will, the University’s overall fundraising activity totaled approximately $20M annually. Since the close of the campaign in May 2018, overall fundraising activity remains nearly double the annual amount raised in 2015, averaging around $40M annually.

Key Metrics

The following fiscal year 2021 metrics indicate Gonzaga’s brand is strong through healthy engagement with prospective students, families, alumni, friends and donors.

  • Social Media: More than 51M impressions and 1M engagements across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.
  • Web: More than 10M pageviews of Gonzaga.edu (+22% YOY).
  • News Media: Stories about and including Gonzaga reached 38B people worldwide with an advertising value of more than $358M. This is an 85% YOY increase in reach.

Brand Strategy

In the January 2020, Marketing and Communications engaged a firm to conduct an audit of the University brand and website in relation to top competitors and an aspirational university. The assessment concluded the brand has been executed consistently, but there are opportunities to strengthen the value proposition and now is a strategic time to refresh the brand. A formal process to build a refreshed brand strategy is now underway with anticipated completion in May 2022.