I love, love this infographic and what it can teach higher education communicators.
As someone who sees college costs day in and day out, the total cost of attendance for Hogwarts looks pretty reasonable. With an estimated price tag of $42,280 per year, it is cheaper than a number of colleges and universities. And, if it really existed, I would be more willing to send my kiddo to Hogwarts than to one of those more expensive schools. After all, I’ve had the benefit of seven books to fall in love with the school, the faculty, the students and the experience.
We send glossy packets of information to prospective students but we forget to tell them the backstory for our campuses and roll out the protagonists who have graduated from our institutions. We write profiles of students who could be from any institution… not our own Harry Potters who could only be associated with one school.
The next time you are tasked with writing the latest view book, press release, or summary of your differential advantage, think through if you’ve done an adequate job of sharing the experience (warts, dementors, Snapes and all) so that students can make an educated decision to buy into your story.
Kudos to degreesearch.org for such a fun infographic.
PS- I would assume the textbook and supplies costs would go up in year two, because you would need some Band-Aids to go with The Monster Book of Monsters.
