--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Colleges now view students as customers…" description: "\"“Colleges now view students as customers and market their degree programs as products.”\" — Jeffrey J. Selingo" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4eb/jeffrey-j-selingo-60600_education_colleges-now-view-students-as-customers_6574.jpg" --- # Colleges now view students as customers and market their… ![“Colleges now view students as customers and market their degree programs as products.” quote by Jeffrey J. Selingo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4eb/jeffrey-j-selingo-60600_education_colleges-now-view-students-as-customers_6574.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4eb/jeffrey-j-selingo-60600_education_colleges-now-view-students-as-customers_6574.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4eb/jeffrey-j-selingo-60600_education_colleges-now-view-students-as-customers_6574.jpg) > ““Colleges now view students as customers and market their degree programs as products.”” [Jeffrey J. Selingo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-j-selingo/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Higher education treats learners like consumers, promoting degrees as purchasable services. **In simple terms:** Students are seen as customers. Key Takeaway Education is commodified. Themes commodification marketing student experience higher education consumerism Mood critical skeptical Type observational critical When to use this quote - university admissions - program promotion - alumni fundraising - online course enrollment Key Concepts productization customer acquisition brand positioning Practical Applications - designing tuition pricing models - creating targeted recruitment campaigns Questions to Reflect On - How does this shift affect academic quality? - What alternatives exist to a purely market-driven approach? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Colleges View](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/colleges-view-317112/) [Customers Market](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/customers-market-317114/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Market Degree](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/market-degree-317113/) [Students](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/students/) [Students Customers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/students-customers-317111/) ## Related quotes > [Challenging schools to treat their students as customers with a choice, instead of inmates serving time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-warlick/challenging-schools-to-treat-their-students-as-customers-with-a/) [David Warlick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-warlick/) > [Rather than focus on trying to get a lot of customers to market yourself, really focus more on the actual product or service itself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-hsieh/rather-than-focus-on-trying-to-get-a-lot-of-customers-to-market/) [Tony Hsieh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-hsieh/) > [“The first customer ship date does not mean the company understands its customers or how to market or sell to them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-blank/the-first-customer-ship-date-does-not-mean-the-company-understands/) [Steve Blank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-blank/) > [“Moments later, confident but cautious, I stepped into my first classroom as Professor Ball. 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So what you have is a lot of students who are very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-miller/there-s-no-authoritarian-structure-at-reed-college-but-the-education/) [Donald Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-miller/) > [Where I grew up, learning was a collective activity. But when I got to school and tried to share learning with other students that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/where-i-grew-up-learning-was-a-collective-activity-but-when-i-got-to/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [For successful education there must always be a certain freshness in the knowledge dealt with. It must be either new in itself or invested…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/for-successful-education-there-must-always-be-a-certain-freshness-in/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [I put myself in the student's place and remember the frustrations, doubts, determination, and desires I felt when I was going through the initial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-martinez/i-put-myself-in-the-student-s-place-and-remember-the-frustrations/) [Ted Martinez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-martinez/) ## More by Jeffrey J. Selingo > [“In the last decade, the percentage of students from families at the highest income levels who got a bachelor’s degree has grown to 82…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-j-selingo/in-the-last-decade-the-percentage-of-students-from-families-at-the/) [Jeffrey J. Selingo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-j-selingo/) > [“in Computer Science I. He had just started his sophomore year and was dabbling in the intro class for computer science majors. Growing up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-j-selingo/in-computer-science-i-he-had-just-started-his-sophomore-year-and-was/) [Jeffrey J. Selingo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-j-selingo/) > [“The truth about change is that we tend to overestimate its speed while underestimating its reach.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-j-selingo/the-truth-about-change-is-that-we-tend-to-overestimate-its-speed/) [Jeffrey J. Selingo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-j-selingo/) > [“In many ways, higher education is like any industry that has produced its product a particular way for a long time and is suspicious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-j-selingo/in-many-ways-higher-education-is-like-any-industry-that-has-produced/) [Jeffrey J. Selingo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-j-selingo/) [Explore all 5 Jeffrey J. 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