About

CUPRAP is a professional community dedicated to advancing higher education marketing and communications. We strengthen our field by elevating one another, sharing expertise, and building lasting professional relationships. True to our values, we focus on celebrating our members and their achievements rather than promoting the organization itself.

With over 250 members from more than 100 institutions, CUPRAP brings together communications professionals from across Pennsylvania and other states, including New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, New York, Michigan, and Massachusetts.

Founded in Pennsylvania in 1980 by a dedicated group of higher education public relations professionals, CUPRAP has grown from one of the nation’s few statewide higher education communications organizations into a vibrant regional and national network. While we primarily go by CUPRAP today, the acronym originally stood for the College and University Public Relations Association of Pennsylvania.

For more than three decades, CUPRAP hosted its annual spring conference at the Hershey Hotel before moving to the Lancaster Marriott, a location that better serves our growing membership, accommodates more partners, and reflects the national recognition our conference has earned.

At the 2025 conference, CUPRAP announced that its CUPPIE Best in Show award would be renamed in honor of long-time Executive Director Betty Hanson, recognizing her lasting contributions to the organization and the profession.