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"The Ultimate Small-College Experience"

That's what a Chicago Tribune story called "the brand identity" of Elmhurst College.

A January 21 story in the Chicago Tribune's business section explored how Elmhurst College has "repositioned itself among small Midwestern residential colleges," saying Elmhurst has staked its claim as "the ultimate small-college experience."

To read the full story, click here.

The Tribune story, titled "Colleges take the business course," and written by Ann Meyer, details how Elmhurst began articulating its  image and goals under then-incoming President Bryant Cureton. According to the Tribune, by understanding what sort of place the College could be and by distinctly marketing the College's strengths -- "a liberal arts college where students get personal attention, learn practical skills and have an opportunity" to be involved in student life -- Elmhurst experienced a drastic improvement in its academic and financial standing. Prospective students, alumni, donors, and the public as a whole, responded to the college's well-defined image in a significant way.

"The changes have brought a more engaged student body, better qualified applicants, and an expanded faculty," Meyer wrote, noting that, since Cureton's arrival the College has doubled its residential enrollment, nearly doubled its annual revenue, and tripled its endowment. Incoming student GPAs and ACT scores have also risen dramatically, the story notes.

Elmhurst College now ranks ninth in the 2007 U.S. News and World Report rankings in the Midwest comprehensive colleges category, "an example of the turnaround possible through a concerted business strategy," Meyer wrote. She goes on to praise the manner in which the college's business model bred financial and academic success, "'Places like Elmhurst...'" concludes Richard Ekman, president of the Council of Independent Colleges in Washington, D.C., "'are very entrepreneurial and innovative in doing some things to attract students and additional donors.'"