📷 Image: Wikimedia Commons / Gopal Aggarwal
Education
Lovely Professional University grows to 35,000 students on aggressive ad blitz
✍️ ThePrint
🗓 30 Sep 2026, 03:38 PM
👁 13
Lovely Professional University (LPU) has expanded from a modest business school to a 35,000‑student university, largely fueled by an intensive advertising campaign, reports ThePrint.
Lovely Professional University, originally founded as a small business school, has transformed into a sprawling institution enrolling around 35,000 students across undergraduate, postgraduate and professional programmes. The university's rapid growth is attributed to a sustained, high‑budget advertising push that has placed its brand prominently on television, digital platforms and outdoor media.
According to ThePrint, LPU's marketing strategy began in the early 2000s, targeting aspirants in tier‑2 and tier‑3 cities with promises of modern infrastructure, industry‑linked curricula and placement opportunities. The university has consistently invested a significant share of its revenue into media buys, sponsorships and celebrity endorsements, creating a perception of a premium, pan‑India educational brand.
The expansion has also been backed by the development of a large campus in Phagwara, Punjab, featuring state‑of‑the‑art labs, hostels and sports facilities. While the ad‑driven model has drawn criticism for over‑promising outcomes, enrollment numbers suggest that the approach resonates with a sizable segment of India's youth seeking higher education.
Industry observers note that LPU's trajectory reflects a broader trend of private institutions leveraging marketing to compete with traditional universities. The university's leadership maintains that the advertising spend is justified by the scale of student intake and the resulting economies of scale.
ThePrint's coverage highlights that LPU's story underscores how aggressive branding can reshape the higher‑education landscape in India, turning a modest B‑school into one of the country's largest private universities.
According to ThePrint, LPU's marketing strategy began in the early 2000s, targeting aspirants in tier‑2 and tier‑3 cities with promises of modern infrastructure, industry‑linked curricula and placement opportunities. The university has consistently invested a significant share of its revenue into media buys, sponsorships and celebrity endorsements, creating a perception of a premium, pan‑India educational brand.
The expansion has also been backed by the development of a large campus in Phagwara, Punjab, featuring state‑of‑the‑art labs, hostels and sports facilities. While the ad‑driven model has drawn criticism for over‑promising outcomes, enrollment numbers suggest that the approach resonates with a sizable segment of India's youth seeking higher education.
Industry observers note that LPU's trajectory reflects a broader trend of private institutions leveraging marketing to compete with traditional universities. The university's leadership maintains that the advertising spend is justified by the scale of student intake and the resulting economies of scale.
ThePrint's coverage highlights that LPU's story underscores how aggressive branding can reshape the higher‑education landscape in India, turning a modest B‑school into one of the country's largest private universities.