Good News on the College Tuition Front – Private Schools Slashing Costs

Future Fiscal Discipline Badly Needed

The cost of a college education at private schools in America is a disgrace.  Either a student is lucky enough to be born into a wealthy family or they leave colleges with mountains of debt.  College tuition has risen rapidly in the last few decades, and administrative costs have skyrocketed.  Faculty productivity is low due to the lack of full time commitment and the requirement that senior faculty work only part of the year at less than 40 hours a week.

New data is showing that discounts from full tuition are rising.

About one in five respondents to this year’s survey said they have implemented new pricing strategies, such as cutting sticker prices or freezing rates, to help boost revenue. Three times as many said they were focusing on strategic financial aid—like discounts—to increase the bottom line.

Slashing sticker prices, with the expectation that schools would need to extend less financial aid, has had mixed results. Some administrators worry about risking their reputations, since many families equate price with quality. 

Let’s hope that the trend causes private schools to improve themselves, to let go many useless administrators, to require professors to be in the classroom or office 40 hours a week for 45 to 50 weeks a year.  You know, like the rest of us.