Is Community College Branding Important?

I am hoping to complete my Ph.D. in the next several months. It deals with community college branding and IMC. Here's an excerpt:

Very little research has been completed with respect to the branding of American community colleges. To assume that higher education branding research in general would sufficiently explain what is going on in the community college segment would imply little understanding of the distinctive attributes of community colleges in this country. One of the driving forces behind university branding is the desire to improve the academic profile of incoming freshmen. Given the community college commitment to open access, why is having a positive brand relevant or important? Aren’t community colleges the educational equivalent of generic products, or the “store brand”? I would argue that the answer is no. We live in an era of hyper communication and marketing. If community colleges do not work more intentionally to establish and communicate a strong, positive brand identity, then many individuals who may have benefited from a community college education will not pursue that education as actively as they may have. They will continue to assume that a college education is just not possible for them. A large segment of the population that needs higher education won’t pursue it. The rest of the developed and developing world will continue educating larger percentages of their populations. The change that needs to happen in this state and country will not. The implications of not adapting to a rapidly changing global environment are profound.