Vakıf Üniversitelerinin Yatay Geçiş Kampanyaları Kapsamında Yayınladıkları Reklamların Analizi

Undergraduate transfer refers to the pursuance of education of a higher education student in another program or department with a similar grade of the former. Applied in two methods, internal or external, students have rights to transfer to another department internally or another university within the context of the undergraduate transfers. Following the latest regulations made by the Council of Higher Education (YOK), undergraduate transfers gained a gripping attention of private universities. Private universities started major commercial campaigns for the undergraduate transfers which gives a massive boost to the increase of student quantity. This study is focused on the advertisement campaigns of undergraduate transfer processes of private universities, which are, in contrast, defined with the mission of generating information, disseminating and providing social benefit. The aim is to analyze the advertisements launched by universities during the transfer period, and evaluate them in the context of universities' social missions, which are defined as science and education institutions focused on education and research, producing scientific knowledge and disseminating it for public benefit. Considering the data collected during this research, universities, ignoring the primary functions and values of their vision & mission definitions, promote discount and scholarship opportunities and stimulate commercial marketing strategies. Universities should pursue marketing strategies with universal values defined in their vision & mission discourse such as “collectivism”, “scientific contribution” and “production of knowledge”, which in return might help universities transform/reverse the perception of commercialization.