For marketers looking to reach college kids, it's always been a challenge, and it certainly isn't getting any easier with the rise of MySpace, iPods and online gaming.

Yet, as contrary as it may seem, the campus newspaper may still be the most efficient medium. And in fact it may be more so with the increasing fragmentation of media.

College papers and their web sites are holding up surprisingly well, delivering better market penetration among undergraduates than anything else in print.

That's according to a new report from Y2M: Youth Media & Market Networks and College Publisher. It finds that 44 percent of students read their college papers in print at least twice per week and 33 percent pick it up at least once per month, while 24 percent read the online versions frequently, which is to say twice a week, and 33 percent visit it least once a month.

Comparatively, only 28 percent of undergrads frequently read their local, non-campus papers in print, and only 22 percent read them online.

"Marketers may be surprised at how loyal students are to reading their college newspapers. Undergraduates really do have a keen interest in local news, so they can't be beat because it's content created for young people, by young people," says Paul Pennelli, director of web products for College Publisher, an ad network for college papers and their web sites.

Certainly, College Publisher has lots to gain by promoting the value of college papers, yet its findings are confirmed by Student Monitor, an independent publisher of market research on college students. In fact, that group reports an even higher penetration for college papers.

Among undergrads, says Student Monitor managing partner Erik Weil, 76 percent have read at least one of the past five issues of their college newspaper. "That's far more than read the most-read magazine," he says (That's Cosmopolitan, read by 23 percent of college students.).

"A college newspaper is going to reach folks who are purely college students," Weil says, and that makes it so much more efficient than media that attract college students but also plenty of other young people. An example Weil cites is "Late Show with David Letterman" on CBS.

"There are lots of people who watch 'David Letterman' in addition to college students. If 25 percent of college students watch 'Letterman,' that's pretty good, but it's not efficient," he says. "It's not that it's hard to reach college students, it's just hard to do it efficiently."

Ad pricing for college papers is somewhat lower than for local papers of comparable circulation, and Pennelli says that while few college papers are audited, they seemed to have avoided the circulation declines plaguing general interest newspapers across the country. 

National advertising tend to dominate smaller college papers, and the most successful campaigns are often ones that are immediately applicable to the lives of students and new grads: job recruitment, entertainment, retail, consumer electronics, targeted auto sales and apparel.

At larger-circulation papers, typically at state universities, local advertising makes up a larger portion of the budget. For both local and national campaigns, Pennelli says that repeated advertising or advertising across media is crucial to success.

"One key thing when trying to reach this market is persistence. It's about getting your brand message to be a persistent part of the lives of students on campus. It's easy to reach college students, but it's hard to keep their attention," he says. "To that end, many clients are looking to advertise across web and print, and follow up with a postering or guerrilla marketing effort."

But according to Wiel's figures, it may be worth it: While there are some 16 million college students altogether, he says four-year undergraduates number only around 6 million. Yet that group alone represents some around $800 per month in discretionary funds, or about $57.6 billion per year.