| WASHINGTON DC, AUGUST 18, 2026—The American Advertising Federation (AAF), the “Unifying Voice for Advertising,” announced today that Rocket Mortgage will be the presenting sponsor for this year’s National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC).
For more than 50 years, AAF has staged NSAC as a way to provide college students with the real-world experience of creating a strategic advertising and marketing media campaign for a corporate client. Previous client partners have included AT&T, Coca-Cola, NFL, Pizza Hut, Tide and Toyota. It is expected that more than 100 colleges and universities will participate in this year’s three-tier competition, with eight finalists advancing to the national championship, which will take place at the association’s ADMERICA annual conference in Anaheim, CA, June 3-6, 2027.
Dawn Reeves, Executive Vice President, Member Services and Programs at AAF, who oversees this event, commented, “There is no better way to learn how to pitch for new advertising business than by developing a campaign for a real-world, real-client consideration. Through NSAC, student teams receive a brief. From there, all ideation, research, strategy, and creative assets necessary to build a fully integrated campaign become the responsibility of the student teams.” She added, “Students must pitch their ideas to a panel of judges comprised of industry professionals, the client, and their agency representatives. We are elated that Rocket Mortgage has partnered with the AAF for this year’s competition as their company seeks to build an opportunity that doesn’t currently exist. Therein lies the greatest challenge.”
Each of AAF’s college chapters is eligible to form a team for the National Student Advertising Competition on its campus. All students participating on the NSAC team must be dues-paying AAF College Chapter members. The AAF is divided into 15 geographical regions, and based on their school location, student teams first compete at the district level, either in-person or virtually. The winning team(s) from each district then advance to the semi-finals, where NSAC teams compete for one of eight spots at the finals. Last year’s winner was the University of Oregon, which presented work on behalf of the NFL. Texas State University won in 2025 and California Berkley in 2024.
“The best industries create the next generation of leaders; they do not let it happen by accident,” said Jonathan Mildenhall, CMO of Rocket Companies. “Rocket Mortgage is proud to sponsor the National Student Advertising Competition because it forges emerging talent into future industry leaders. Our support is a commitment to the students that will shape what marketing becomes next, raising the standard for advertising.”
For further information regarding AAF’s National Student Advertising Competition, go to aaf.org/nsac. |
