Foursquare Expands “College Badge” Program, Removes Badge Fee
Following the success of the company’s “Universities 2.0” program, Foursquare announced on Wednesday that they are bringing the program back and adding even more colleges to the program.
On the official Foursquare blog they announced that 15 colleges have partnered with the company at this time and they include:
Arizona State University, Texas A&M, UCLA, USC, University of Oregon, Texas Tech, Duke University, West Virginia University, University of Oklahoma, University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Kansas, University of South Florida, Virginia Tech, UC Berkeley and The Ohio State University.
The program initially launched with Harvard, Stanford and Syracuse and will relaunch when the fall semester starts for students.
Location based badges for other universities are also expected to be added as the program expands.
The schools chosen to participate were given priority because they have already teamed with Foursquare in the past, for example Texas A&M had previously used Foursquare to sponsor campus wide scavenger hunts.
College administrators can sign up for the program by filling out a form and signing up for the Foursquare campus ambassadors program.
In the past a badge was an expensive option to have created, however Foursquare says that with the number of students requesting badges for their schools they will begin offering them to universities at no cost.
Just what every college student needs, a badge of honor for checking in at the 10 kegger their buddies are throwing on campus. In all seriousness though, the program according to schools already using it has created unity among students, while encouraging them to check-in at school sponsored events, which in turn helps Universities spread the word about their programs and events in real-time.
The program could potentially help attract new users to the Foursquare system as they jump on-board to receive their schools badge and then continue using the program at locations around their campus. Schools with an active athletics program such as big ten schools with top placing Basketball, Football and other sports teams are especially susceptible to students who want to show off their “school spirit.”
Do you think the Foursquare College Badge program is a good idea? If you’re a student do you plan to earn your schools badge?