At a Glance
- Buyer: California State University, Fullerton — College of Business and Economics (CBE)
- Industry: Higher education
- Location/markets: Fullerton, CA; targeting may be local, national, or international (campaign-dependent)
- Primary scope: Paid digital marketing and advertising management (digital agency of record) for enrollment goals
- Key deliverables/channels: Campaign assessment + setup/deployment; PPC/search; display; video (YouTube/OTT); geofencing; paid social (Meta, TikTok, X/BlueSky); retargeting; conversion/event tracking; A/B testing; optimization; real-time reporting dashboard; display ad production (from existing brand guidelines); CRM/social tool integration
- Budget: Not guaranteed; estimated $175,000 annually (grad programs) + $120,000 annually (online degree-completion), inclusive of ad budget and agency fees
- Contract type/term: Master agreement; 3-year term with two optional 1-year extensions
- Key dates: Proposal due Feb 25, 2026, 3:00 PM PST; Notice of Intent to Award Mar 11, 2026; contract award Mar 25, 2026; commencement of services Jun 30, 2026
- Eligibility/must-haves: Minimum 7 years’ experience delivering digital marketing services for higher-ed; enrollment-marketing experience; multi-channel paid media execution + optimization; real-time custom reporting dashboard; conversion/event tracking; ability to integrate with CSUF CRM and/or social tools; compliance with privacy (GDPR/CCPA) and accessibility (ADA/WCAG) expectations; U.S. EIN/TIN; 3 relevant references; wet-signed proposal; comply with CSU terms/insurance requirements
Why This Could Be Interesting
California State University, Fullerton is hiring a digital marketing partner for its College of Business and Economics (CBE), one of the largest accredited business schools on the West Coast.
The selected agency will act as CBE’s digital agency of record—assessing current campaigns, launching and optimizing paid efforts, and supporting enrollment goals across multiple programs (including FEMBA, FLEX, MSA/MST, and an online business degree-completion offering). Channel expectations span search/PPC, display, video (YouTube/OTT), and paid social (Meta, TikTok, X/BlueSky), including tactics like geofencing, retargeting, and look-alike audiences.
What makes this opportunity notable is the combination of a multi-year term (three years with two optional one-year extensions) and a performance/measurement mandate. CSUF calls for real-time, custom reporting dashboards, stronger conversion and event tracking (forms, clicks, downloads, registrations), and ongoing A/B testing and optimization to improve ROI. Budgets aren’t guaranteed, but CSUF estimates $175,000 annually for graduate programs plus $120,000 annually for the online degree-completion program, with additional potential extensions like attribution modeling and other enrollment or reputation initiatives if funding and priorities expand.
Best suited for performance-minded agencies with higher-ed enrollment marketing experience, strong analytics/attribution capability, and disciplined account management.
Proposal deadline: Wednesday, February 25, 2026, at 3:00 PM PST
Download the full RFP here.
