Promotion strategy of Muhammadiyah University of Yogyakarta (UMY) - 2024-2025 - Facing competition with PTN-BH

Sep 10, 2026

This research examines how Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta (UMY) develops a promotional strategy to compete with State Universities with Legal Entity Status (PTN-BH) in 2024-2025. The study is driven by recent policy advantages granted to PTN-BH, including greater autonomy, substantial financial support, and public perceptions that favor PTN over private universities. Using descriptive qualitative methods with semi-structured interviews and documentation, the findings show two coordinated promotional approaches: soft selling through brand-image enhancement and digital content quality, and hard selling via school visits and persuasive multi-platform digital dissemination.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages10

Reading Time25 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Keywords

Introduction

Policy changes and higher education competition

Research gap and study purpose

Case selection: UMY

Method

Research approach and data collection

Published: May 04, 2026 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons AttributionNonCommercial 4.0 International License Selection and Peerreview under the responsibility of the 7th BIS-HSS 2025 Committee Promotion strategy of Muhammadiyah University of Yogyakarta (UMY) in 2024-2025 in facing competition with State Universities with Legal Entity Status (PTN-BH) Rizqi Lailatul Khairiyyah1* and Sovia Sitta Sari1 1 Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta, Yogyakarta, Indonesia *Corresponding author’s email: [r.lailatul.isip21@mail.umy.ac.id](r.lailatul.isip21@mail.umy.ac.id) Abstract This research examines how Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta (UMY) develops a promotional strategy to compete with State Universities with Legal Entity Status (PTNBH) in 2024-2025. This topic comes from the recent policy that PTN-BH (Universities with Legal Entity Status) have greater advantages, including greater autonomy, substantial financial support, and a public perception that generally ranks PTN as the preferred option over Private Universities (PTS) . Because of this, private universities like UMY need to devise specific strategies to promote themselves to stay competitive. This study utilizes promotion theory as a framework to analyze UMY’s management of its promotional mix. The selected methodology is a descriptive, qualitative approach that employs data collection through semi-structured interviews and documentation. The Sub-Directorate of Public Relations and Media, the Sub-Directorate of Branding and Marketing, and the Sub-Directorate of UMY Admissions are all involved in this initiative. It provides a comprehensive view of the strategy from various perspectives. The research indicates that UMY employs two distinct promotional approaches: soft selling and hard selling. In soft-selling, UMY attempts to enhance its image by highlighting its successes, showcasing innovative ideas from faculty and students, and ensuring that its social media and website content is of the highest quality. Hard selling is done more directly, such as by visiting schools and disseminating persuasive digital content across various platforms. In general, these two strategies work together to help UMY stay competitive and even improve as an excellent private university, especially as PTN-BH becomes more competitive. Keywords Promotional strategies, Higher education, Soft-selling, Hard-selling, UMY Introduction Changes in higher education policy in Indonesia over the past few years have created new dynamics in the competition among higher education institutions. The State- Owned Legal Entity Higher Education Institution (PTN-BH) policy, particularly following the issuance of Permendikbudristek Number 2 of 2024 regarding Higher Education Operational Cost Standards, has become a significant issue that has garnered the attention of academics, practitioners, students, and the public. The autonomous status of PTN-BH allows state universities to manage their finances, resources, and academic activities more flexibly. However, this policy has also sparked controversy, including increased tuition fees and the potential commercialization of education, which has triggered demonstrations on various campuses [1][2]. At the same time, private universities (PTS) are facing increasing pressure as they need to compete with PTN-BH, which has structural, financial, and reputational strengths [3][4] . Although previous studies have discussed promotional strategies in higher education institutions, most of them focus on specific contexts, such as digital marketing during the pandemic or promotional tactics in general institutional settings [5][6][7]. Limited research has examined how private universities strategically respond to structural policy changes, particularly the increasing autonomy and competitiveness of State Universities with Legal Entity Status (PTN-BH). Moreover, there is a lack of in-depth qualitative exploration on how private universities

FAQs

Why does UMY need an adaptive promotional strategy in 2024-2025?

UMY must respond to the competitive advantages of PTN-BH, including greater autonomy, financial support, and public perception favoring PTN over private universities.

What promotional approaches does UMY use according to the study?

UMY applies two coordinated approaches: soft selling and hard selling.

How was the research conducted?

The study uses a descriptive qualitative design with semi-structured interviews and documentation, involving key UMY promotional units such as public relations, branding and marketing, and admissions.

Sep 10, 2026

Uploaded by Lucas Martin