Brand Overview
What is an institutional brand? It isn’t just a name. It isn’t just a logo. It’s more than school colors and an official seal. It’s how we stand out and stake a claim in an evolving and competitive landscape. It’s a strong and sustainable foundation that clearly communicates our promise.
Our brand reflects the Monmouth experience and how it’s lived out each and every day. It tells us why Monmouth matters and who the institution exists to serve. Our brand connects students with Monmouth and inspires them to make the institution their own. In its simplest form, our brand is the reason to choose Monmouth.
Whether as a staff member, student, professor, or the president, we all shape what the Monmouth experience means and how we share our story.
Value Proposition
Our value proposition represents our brand’s primary benefits. It’s a concise, practical way to tell our audiences what they will get from Monmouth. It identifies our institution, our products and services, our differentiators, and our ultimate outcome.
Our Value Proposition
Monmouth University’s deeply personalized learning experience and unique location create impactful opportunities and successful outcomes for our students.
Cause Statement
All internal behavior and external communication should strive to align with the vision it casts. The “why” within Monmouth University’s Cause must naturally complement the ”who” within its personality.
Monmouth University Exists To
Caring Guide
Encourage
Determined Leader
Confident
Inspired Explorer
Growth
that empowers people to make a difference.
Brand Drivers
Brand drivers are points of differentiation. They are the competitive advantages that distinguish us from our peers.
Personalized experience characterized by small class sizes, accessible faculty, and engaging research opportunities.
- Undergraduate students can participate in hands-on research opportunities available only to graduate students at other universities.
- As early as their first year, students can study gene therapy treatment of brain cancer, eDNA monitoring of marine populations, participate in an archeological excavation of Sandy Hook, manage a real stock portfolio through the Hawk Capital Fund, or work as part of a team recording, producing, or promoting original music with Blue Hawk Records.
- No classes are taught by graduate assistants – and class sizes are capped at 35. With a 12:1 student-to-faculty ratio, learning is highly personalized.
Desirable coastal location with easy access to world class opportunities in New York and Philadelphia, as well as vibrant music, arts, and theater scenes even closer.
- Close to internship opportunities in New York City. Recent examples include NBC Sports, Sirius XM Pandora, WABC-TV, Michael Kors, and CNBC. Even closer to campus are high-tech companies like Vonage, WorkWave, Commvault, ICIMS, and the metroburb hub, Bell Works.
- Asbury Park, the “Coolest Small Town in America” is eight minutes away. “Money” magazine’s “The 14 Best Beaches in the World” ranks Asbury Park as #2 in its domestic list, while “Travel and Leisure” magazine named it one of the “25 Best Beaches in the U.S.”
- Monmouth’s location offers easy access to concert and theater venues like the PNC Bank Arts Center, Count Basie Center for the Arts, Two River Theater, The Stone Pony, Asbury Lanes, and the Sea.Hear.Now music festival, all within 15 minutes of campus. In a little more than an hour, you can catch headlining acts in New York City, Atlantic City, or Philadelphia.
Nationally recognized centers and institutes on campus that connect students to the larger world.
- The Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music is a destination for scholars and fans from around the world.
- The Institute for Global Understanding connects renowned thought leaders, including the Dalai Lama, with students and faculty.
- Our Polling Institute is nationally recognized as one of the most accurate and influential nonpartisan centers for the study of public opinion.
- The Urban Coast Institute directly involves students in diverse hands-on research including opportunities including eDNA, coastal resiliency, and marine life monitoring.
- The Center for Entrepreneurship fosters practical and theoretical training to engage students in entrepreneurship and small business classes with local businesses to bring products and services to market.
- The Center for the Arts brings global performance and gallery programming to the heart of the campus experience, expanding cultural horizons for students and community members.
A leader in access and excellence.
- Among “U.S. News & World Report’s” Best Colleges, Monmouth University ranks as one of the top five private, non-denominational, Division I schools for student access and academic excellence.
- Ranked #15 in “U.S. News & World Report’s” Regional Universities North category – and recognized as a top university for social mobility.
- “Money” magazine cites Monmouth University as one of the “Best Colleges for Your Money” in its annual list – every year since the list began.
- Average incoming student GPA is 3.62. First-generation and/or low income (FLI) rate is 50.2%.
Brand Personality
Like a person, a brand has traits and characteristics that give it an authentic personality. When we speak as one “person,” we own a voice that’s uniquely ours; it’s the University’s outward expression. That one distinct, consistent, and relevant voice must translate across all media, messages, and moments. It should be personified and real. Monmouth University’s unique personality is comprised of the following archetypes.
The Caring Guide
Supportive and selfless, driven by compassion, warmth, and the desire to care for others. We deliver nurturing, comfort, and protection. We value altruism, commitment, and generosity. We strive for people to feel valued and supported.
The Determined Leader
Powerful and resilient, driven by growth and a desire to challenge the industry through determination and strength. We deliver pride, perseverance, and stability. We value fortitude and accomplishment. We strive for people to feel triumphant and inspired.
The Inspired Explorer
Adventurous and inquisitive, driven by the quest for discovering the unknown. We deliver progress and an unmatched interest for uncovering truth. We value investigation, curiosity, and trailblazing. We strive for people to feel intrigued and emboldened.
Brand Story
Monmouth empowers growth through access and personal investment.
At Monmouth University, our commitment to a distinctive, exceptional, and personalized education prepares students to thrive. By investing in meaningful, student-focused resources—and by going above-and-beyond to offer individual support—we equip every Monmouth student to believe in their own potential. Then we walk alongside them as they give their all to achieve it. Our invitational campus culture celebrates differences by amplifying diverse perspectives as a foundational pathway to learning, opening doors for our students to seek transformational opportunities for themselves and others. Together, we prepare the next generation of compassionate leaders who are ready and able to create a better, more just world for all.
Monmouth inspires lives of perseverance and purpose.
Monmouth University is built on a foundation of academic strength and a legacy of unwavering dedication. Since 1933, through challenges and successes alike, we have grown our reputation as a pillar of intellectual excellence by continually advancing understanding and fueling progress across academic disciplines. Led by an adept, distinguished faculty and staff, we invest in scholars from all backgrounds with an exceptional education that instills confidence and fosters achievement. As leaders in academic, interpersonal, and career success, we graduate people of purpose, ready to impact the world for good.
Monmouth cultivates transformation through exploration.
Monmouth University offers education as a formative journey without end, inviting students to explore deeply within themselves and broadly into the world beyond. From the classroom to the other side of the globe, we open doors just as we open minds, cultivating gifts and talents as we nurture a lifelong sense of wonder. The Monmouth experience is defined by boundless opportunities to ask, imagine, and find, as tomorrow’s change-makers put down roots right here and discover who they are and who they can become.