Colleges Once Saw High Tuition as a Sign of Quality. Now They’re Slashing Prices.
A growing number of private colleges are reassessing how much they charge families to attend.
With the cost of college under scrutiny, some universities are deploying a fresh wave of financial moves to lure students—like slashing tuition by nearly half, offering “in state” rates to compete with public institutions, and promising loan-free aid to certain families.
“It does feel like a sea change right now,” said Jennifer Glowienka, the president of Carroll College in Montana, which announced a 40% tuition reduction starting in fall 2027.
Experts say these strategies generate buzz, but some don’t translate to a sustainable enrollment boost. In some cases, critics say, cutting tuition is a marketing move that doesn’t change much if few students were paying full price in the first place.
Schools are thinking not only about competitors, “but just to get families to sit up and pay attention,” said Brett Schraeder, vice president of financial aid optimization at consultant EAB.
For years, families have associated price with quality. A tuition cut used to be risky because a school giving out $10,000 scholarships seemed more prestigious than one whose sticker price was $10,000 cheaper. Students “feel good, because they got a scholarship,” said Sandy Baum, a higher-education economist and senior fellow at the Urban Institute.
Now, higher-ed analysts say that posture might be shifting. More colleges are asking: Is it better to tell families their school is cheaper, instead of being more expensive but handing out big merit scholarships? “This is the tug of war in the higher-ed space,” said Schraeder.
Many of the changes are playing out at smaller colleges, but even high-profile elite schools are pondering new tuition models. Cornell University’s recent report on the future of higher education called for a task force to examine whether tuition should be lowered and merit-aid introduced.
Administrators at Carroll College spent years discussing how—or whether—to change its high-price, high-discount model. The perception that the school was financially unattainable had built up. Administrators realized that students were “self-selecting out” by opting not to apply and see their aid package.
