Most recent print edition: Jul 28

– Last updated: Today

• About Us
• |
• Contact Us
• |
• Advertising
• |
• Submissions

News

TRU Open Learning holds Facebook contest for tuition

Amber Yake - News Editor

TRU Open Learning is hosting a social media contest that will award one lucky winter up to 60 TRU-OL credits, valued at $9,500, which will be used towards completion of their post-secondary credential.

The contest is being run through Facebook and is open to any individual who has not been registered as a full-time student at any post-secondary institution since December 31, 2006. Current and former TRU-OL students are also eligible to enter.

“We’re targeting those students because that’s the area that really sets TRU apart,” said Cameron Beddome, chief recruitment officer at TRU-OL.

“The open aspects of the programs at TRU-OL are the amount of credits that can be counted into a program,” he said. “They can transfer in 105 credits to get a TRU degree. We really are the only institution within Canada that affords the highest number of transfer credits.”

In order to enter the contest, a prospective or current TRU-OL student must create a Facebook page and then invite their friends to become fans of both their page and the TRU-OL page. At the end of the contest, each fan in common with TRU-OL and that person will become one entry. The winner will be determined by random draw.

TRU-OL chose to use Facebook because of the viral marketing aspect of it.

“It’s the first time we’ve ever seen a contest work exactly how this one is working. Other contests that have been run like this either on YouTube or Facebook, you create an entry and it’s a one-to-one entry and it’s the quality of the entry that gets rated.” Beddome said. “Truth be told, that’s a lot of work for the demographic that we’re going after, which is the working adult.”

Kate Morrison from Australia created a group called, “Help Kate win FREE Tuition”.

“I am currently in Australia hoping to enrol in some more courses and this would be absolutely fantastic! All you have to do is become a friend of this group - then become a fan of the TRU OL Facebook group. Every friend that becomes a fan of my group - and also the TRU OL Facebook group counts as one entry,” says the description on her page.

By making fans in common the requirement for entries, Beddome hopes to increase the amount of people that TRU-OL can reach through their own Facebook messaging.

“What that does is it gives us a direct communication to all the people that they’ve contacted,” he said. “We will be putting updates on our Facebook page speaking to our program and using that as our messaging channel.”

The main reason behind the contest is to generate interest in the TRU-OL programs.

“It’s a marketing approach to generate interest,” Beddome said. “We really want to promote the open attributes that TRU has. It sets us apart from other institutions in Canada.” TRU-OL is hoping that if more people find out about them and their programs, more people will attain their education through them.

“We believe that when people find out about TRU-OL and what we offer, the opportunities to grow their education will sell themselves,” said Richard Baldelli, acting director of marketing and communications at TRU.

The contest is running until April 18, 2010.