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April 22, 2026

Ferris State Marketing and Communications team honored for excellence in telling the stories of students, programs

Photo of Ferris State billboard
BIG RAPIDS, Mich. — 

Ferris State University’s Marketing and Communications team earned six honors, including three Gold Awards, from a national collegiate advertising organization for excellence in telling the university’s story.

The Collegiate Advertising Awards is a national program recognizing excellence in higher education marketing, advertising, and promotion.

The awards honor creative work from colleges, universities, and technical schools across categories including branding, social media, and recruitment.

All entries for each category are placed together for judging by a panel of design and higher education marketing professionals with decades of combined experience. Entries are judged on creativity, layout and design, typography, production, quality and overall Effectiveness.

Ferris State earned awards for projects including a revamped student acceptance packet, a statewide billboard campaign and The Ferris Foundation’s annual report.

“It starts with our students and our amazing Ferris State faculty and staff members,” said Dave Murray, associate vice president for Marketing and Communications. “They inspire us to do our best to ensure everyone is aware of the opportunities at Ferris State to transform lives through a quality education.”

Photo of a Bulldog Line bus with Ferris State University decal wrapped around its entirety

One of Bulldog Line buses wrapped in Ferris State decal, which helped the university's Marketing and Communications teams earn a Silver Award in the "Outdoor Transit/Airport/Subway" category.

Ferris State recently earned the elite “Opportunity University” designation from the Carnegie Classifications, recognizing that the university is accessible for its community, and that Ferris State graduates earn more when entering their careers that students from peer institutions.

Awards for Ferris State are:

  • A Gold Award in the Total Advertising Campaign category for the 2025-2026 integrated recruitment campaign, which included work presented on a variety of platforms.
  • A Gold Award in the Billboard Design category for the “Unleash Your Potential” campaign.
  • A Gold Award in the Annual Report category for The Ferris Foundation’s 2025 Annual Report.
  • A Silver Award in the Outdoor Transit/Airport/Subway category for the Bulldog Line bus wrapping.
  • A Silver Award in the Direct Mail category for the admitted student welcome packet.
  • Bronze Award in the Special Events category for materials supporting the Student Exhibition at Ferris State’s Kendall College of Art and Design.