Colleges and universities actively engage their alumni in some roles. In other roles, alumni have an effect on their alma maters irrespective of immediate institutional involvement. Most four-year colleges and universities actively seek financial support from their alumni. Many institutions ask them to participate in the process of student recruiting and in helping students find internships and employment. Alumni networks are one of the principal benefits that a college or university offers its graduates.
Alumni constitute a core spectator group for many collegiate athletic programs.
They are increasingly seen as a market for educational and other services. Alumni serve as de facto representatives of a college or university whenever people associate them with their alma maters impressions of an institution are often first formed by knowing a one of its graduates. When alumni speak of their alma maters, their impact as representatives as promoters or as critic is even more direct. And when they vote or otherwise influence public policy, alumni have an effect on the wellbeing of an institution. Traditional research on alumni has focused primarily on fundraising from alumni, with a secondary focus on how alumni associations can serve their members.