The effect is often grandiose, stylized and crushingly clichéd.

Inside Higher Ed reports.

Your Future Starts Here. Or Here. Or Here.

In its brochures, a college is never just a college. A college is a gateway, or a launchpad, or a training ground.

Condensed into a few words, colleges’ missions are similar, and the concrete elements of college life become less so: “Attending SF State is more than an education — it’s an experience,” the university’s website reads. “Leadership isn’t just an elective. It’s a way of life,” reads the University of Virginia’s.

But it’s that brevity — a tagline, a logo, a mission statement — that sells. Colleges want to stand out, but they also want to be pithy. The effect is often grandiose, stylized and crushingly clichéd.